DAX expected to be slightly weaker: Rheinmetall, FMC and Heidelberg Materials in focus

The DAX's attempt to recover is already running out of steam again on Tuesday. The broker IG valued the German leading index just under 0.3 percent lower at 22,361 points around three hours before trading began. In the previous trading week, the 40 most important German stocks initially ended their record hunt at 22,935 points.

After the initial relief over the outcome of the federal election, the focus is now on the difficult exploratory talks on forming a new government. The generally weak guidelines from overseas are also causing caution. Rheinmetall shares could also suffer from profit-taking. The arms giant's shares rose by a whopping six percent yesterday.

Meanwhile, dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) will present its figures for 2024 this Tuesday. Analysts expect slightly lower sales but higher profits. This is mainly due to the company's austerity measures.

It was only in December that FMC returned to the DAX, from which the company had been pushed out by Rheinmetall in spring 2023. The blood dialysis specialist has been in a state of upheaval for several years. The difficult pandemic times, during which dialysis patients died more frequently, had a long-lasting impact. Even last year, the number of treatments suffered in some cases, as mortality among dialysis patients in the USA remained high. It was not until the third quarter of 2024 that there was a ray of hope and CEO Helen Giza was able to report at least a slight increase in treatments.

In terms of earnings, however, the Fresenius holding has recently benefited increasingly from its restructuring and cost-cutting measures. The current program runs until the end of 2025 and is expected to bring savings of 650 million euros by then. Among other things, FMC has reorganized and streamlined structures, and 5,000 jobs are being cut worldwide. CEO Giza is also selling off peripheral areas.

When presenting the nine-month figures, the FMC boss had increased her targets for the full year due to the progress made in restructuring the group. Accordingly, adjusted operating profit at constant exchange rates should increase by 16 to 18 percent compared to 1.54 billion euros a year earlier. Aside from special and currency effects, sales are expected to increase in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range compared to just over 19 billion euros.

FMC was spun off from the medical and hospital group Fresenius at the end of November 2023. The group still holds a stake of almost a third in the dialysis specialist, but only reports this in its financial results. Fresenius will publish its own annual figures this Wednesday (February 26).

The building materials group Heidelberg Materials is also presenting figures today. The Heidelberg-based company became somewhat more confident about the full year 2024 when it presented its nine-month figures in November: the group raised the lower end of its profit target for 2024 by 100 million euros. For the past year, the management board therefore expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 3.1 to 3.3 billion euros, up from just over 3 billion in 2023.

The company wants to adjust its production at several plants due to the significant decline in cement sales in Europe and the increased focus of the cement portfolio towards CO2-reduced products. Clinker production was stopped in the summer at the Hanover cement plant and the Añorga plant in northern Spain. The French plants in Beffes and Villiers-au-Bouin are to be closed in October 2025.

According to the data provided by the company, analysts expect fourth-quarter sales to average 5.3 billion euros, a good four percent above the previous year's level. The operating result (adjusted EBIT) is expected to increase by more than 14 percent to 863 million euros.

For the full year 2024, the experts expect an average turnover of a good 21 billion euros and an operating profit of just under 3.2 billion euros. That would be less in terms of turnover and more in terms of earnings than in the previous year. For 2025, the analysts expect revenues of 22.3 billion euros and an operating profit of just under 3.5 billion euros.

Contains material from dpa-AFX