BIC: Q3 LFL growth and normalised IFO margin below expectations

This morning BIC released 9M 15 results: Q3 sales increased 10.4% as reported and 4.8% LFL to EUR548.3m, slightly below the CS at EUR555.8m. The difference is mainly due to a lower LFL growth (4.8% vs. 5.6%e) caused by a 3.4% decline at BIC Graphic. The Q3 normalised IFO margin of 19.0%
(-10bp vs. Q3 14) missed the market’s expectations of 19.7% (+60bp). BIC reiterates FY15 sales and margin targets which remain below investors’ forecasts but we should expect slight a downward revision at the NIFO level given the miss this morning. Conference call today at 4pm Paris time.

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