Fluidra Emerges as Stock Market Leader Amidst Pool Industry Challenges

At the height of the national swimming pool, its main reference in Spain, Fluidra, has taken over the leadership of the Stock Market this summer.

Its shares have shot up almost 50% within the Ibex 35 so far this year, making the Planes family company the most bullish on the market.

He does it after starring in a very complicated 2022, with large drops in his profit, largely because it was not easy to exceed the historical figures that were achieved as a result of the pandemic when half the world focused on renovating his home, swimming pool included, to make more bearable time at home in case another confinement arrived.

In fact, the Sabadell firm rose so much on the stock market due to what Covid meant that in 2021 it managed, for the first time in its history, to become part of the Ibex. However, its shares are at the highest levels of the last year, on the road to recovery.

Fluidra, the leader in swimming pools in Europe, is the second largest manufacturer in the sector in the United States, the world’s leading market, behind its competitor Pentair, whose stock market size exceeds 10,000 million euros, slightly more than double that of the Catalan company.

Its substantial leap in North America came after Fluidra took over the Zodiac company in 2018, and placed Bruce Brooks as CEO of the group.

Europe follows this ranking where countries such as France, Spain and Germany stand out for being those with the largest number of swimming pools.

In general terms, in these four countries the situation has improved after what was a black year in 2022, although the path is not clear.

For the moment, there will be no return to the Covid figures, but two problems that affect the entire sector and also Fluidra cannot be ignored either.

There is too much stock that has arrived late and is now collecting dust in the warehouses until they manage to release it. And where does that product come from?

From the unprecedented cut in the supply chain that occurred last year, and which also affected the construction of swimming pools.

The big question for 2023 is how the rise in financing costs will affect the sector because it should be remembered that many of the works carried out in homes are done by borrowing money from the bank.

To put the boom in having a pool that occurred after the pandemic in context, in the last three years the pool park has grown by more than a million in global terms and they are areas that will require maintenance, which is the main line Fluidra revenue.

The last time something similar was experienced was in the years immediately prior to the bursting of the real estate bubble, in 2008, when around half a million pools were built per year.. Now the situation would be normalizing below 400,000.

And this simply implies having to pick up the cable on the figures for 2021 and return to a normalized world.. On this transitory path, Fluidra presented its accounts for the first semester in line with what was expected of it, with a drop in sales of 18% and gross profit of 20%.

The Catalan earned 104 million euros from January to June, 37% less. The company itself acknowledged that, in addition to this normalization process, this year has also affected less favorable weather for swimming pools and an “economic situation, in general, weaker for the second half of the year” with the Eurozone and the United States. United in times of recession.

But it’s not all bad news. Tourism stars in a record summer and this has also been felt in the market. Behind Fluidra, the largest gains on the stock market go to firms such as IAG and Meliá Hotels, which have risen more than 30% so far this year.

The airline ticket manager, Amadeus, rises 29%, while Aena is the least bullish, with an advance of more than 20%.