Ontex Feedback conference call

Below are the highlights from the conference call. We remind that like-for-like revenue growth picked up in 4Q24 on the back up of the ramp-up of new contracts in North America, resulting in a 3% better than expected adjusted EBITDA. Ontex guides for 4-7% adj EBITDA growth in 2025 with consensus roughly at the midpoint of the range and KBCS slightly above. After recent divestment agreements on the Brazilian and Turkish businesses, Ontex will soon complete its strategic transformation and become a private-label focussed personal hygiene player in Europe and North America. Whilst Ontex is an established market leader in Europe, it is a challenger in North America which is characterized by much lower penetration of private label products. Whilst the US is undoubtedly the biggest potential growth driver for Ontex in the coming years, a sizeable part of production for that market is delivered from the company's Mexican plant which makes it potentially exposed to import tariffs. Whilst tariffs newsflow might cause temporary share volatility, we expect the company to remain focussed on the longer term and we still see significant value in Ontex and maintain our BUY rating.