After a financially difficult year with heavy losses, the chip and lighting company AMS Osram is planning a change of direction, as reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper. Aldo Kamper, CEO of AMS Osram, believes the company is poised for structural growth in key markets such as automotive, industrial, medical technology and consumer electronics. This comes despite an expected drop in sales in the current quarter and a difficult overall economic situation.
AMS Osram shares are up 22 percent
Although the forecasts for the current quarter are quite negative, investors reacted positively. The AMS Osram share rose by almost 22 percent on Friday morning and rose by almost 17 percent in the afternoon to a price of 2.35 euros.
Rainer Irle, CFO of AMS Osram, was surprised by the price increase and attributed it to the fact that sales forecasts of 800 to 900 million euros for the first quarter may be higher than market expectations. Another explanation is the recognition by investors that the strategy is beginning to bear fruit.
The company is in the red.
However, last year's figures were not very encouraging. The final result was a loss of around 1.6 billion euros due to high depreciation. But AMS Osram sees the light at the end of the tunnel for the next few years. Through a capital increase and new loans, net debt was reduced from 1.7 to 1.3 billion euros at the end of the year.
In addition to the financial challenges, Kamper also sees potential for the company in strategic realignments. AMS Osram plans to specialize in LED chips and smart sensors while selling low-margin or loss-making areas such as older mobile phone technologies and dispersive lenses.
Despite some progress, the environment for the group remains difficult. Sales stagnated in the fourth quarter and both the industrial technology and medical technology markets expect weak demand.