AkzoNobel Earnings: EBIT Beats Vara Consensus With Successful Pricing Measures

Narrow-moat AkzoNobel reported first-quarter EBIT of EUR 218 million, down 5% over 2022 but ahead of the Vara consensus. The decline was mainly attributed to raw material inflation and negative mix and volume, which offset pricing measures. However, the market reacted positively to the results, as the stock showed a small increase in comparison with peers trading in negative territory for the day. AkzoNobel management remains optimistic about the outlook for the year, and as such we don't anticipate any changes to our EUR 100 fair value estimate. The shares currently appear undervalued.