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Europe’s largest copper producer Aurubis missed first-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday, hit by lower metal prices and higher legal costs following the theft of precious metals at its Hamburg site in the previous fiscal year.
Operating earnings before taxes (EBT) fell 11% to 111 million euros ($119 million) in the quarter through December, slightly below a company-compiled consensus estimate of 115 million euros.
The decline was driven by a 16% drop in earnings for the metal recycling segment, as metal prices fell especially for nickel, palladium and copper, the company said.
That was partly offset by lower electricity and gas costs as well as higher wire rod sales and copper treatment and refining charges, it added.
The custom smelting and products business, Aurubis’ biggest, saw its operating EBT decline by 1% in the quarter.
Launch costs for strategic projects also had a negative effect on quarterly earnings, the company said.
Aurubis is carrying out a 1.7 billion euro investment plan that includes building a new recycling plant in the United States and boosting security at its Hamburg facility after the theft resulted in a 169 million euro hit last year.
The company’s shares dropped 2.8% in early Frankfurt trade, with Baader Helvea saying in a research note that “uncertainty about future top management” was weighing on the stock in the short term.
Aurubis last month said it had agreed to prematurely terminate the contracts of three executive board members, including CEO Roland Harings, over their handling of alleged fraud and theft as well as work safety incidents.
The metals processor reiterated its full-year outlook for operating EBT of 380-480 million euros in the financial year through September.
($1 = 0.9301 euros)
(By Louis van Boxel-Woolf and Paolo Laudani; Editing by Milla Nissi and Kirsten Donovan)
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