By Adria Calatayud

Umicore shares fell after the Belgian chemicals group cut its dividend and reset its payout policy, citing a context marked by challenges in the electric-vehicle market and the European industrial sector.

Shares in Umicore traded 9.4% lower in European morning trading, having lost more than a half of their value over the past year.

The company on Friday declared a dividend of 0.50 euros (52 U.S. cents) for 2024, down from 0.80 euros a share a year before. Umicore said this would be the new baseline for future dividend payments and that it would no longer declare an interim payout.

For the second half of 2024, Umicore swung to a net loss of 8 million euros from a profit of 162 million euros in the same period a year before. Revenue excluding the value of purchased metals fell to 1.66 billion euros from 1.81 billion euros.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization--the company's preferred metric, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items--dropped to 370 million euros from 453 million euros.

"2024 has been a sobering and intense year for Umicore, marked by significant headwinds including a slowdown in EV growth, multiple challenges for the European industrial sector, and rising geopolitical tensions," Umicore Chief Executive Bart Sap said.

The company guided for 2025 adjusted Ebitda of between 720 million and 780 million euros, and said this includes additional savings of 100 million euros on top of those previously targeted.

The results and outlook are broadly as expected, ING analyst Stijn Demeester said in a research note.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 14, 2025 04:36 ET (09:36 GMT)

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