Spain's Fluidra on Wednesday reported a 10% drop in first-quarter net profit from the same period last year, to 37 million euros ($39.73 million), due to lower pool sales.

The world's largest pool maker said its global sales contracted 5% in the quarter to 527 million euros, according to the company, which blamed the decline on fewer business days in the period than in 2023.

The drop in net profit and sales pushed Fluidra's share price down 3.3% in early trading in Madrid.

Fluidra said it managed to protect profit and cash generation by cutting costs by 6 million euros during the quarter, after saving 30 million euros in costs last year.

The company said its North American business performed better than in Europe and its commercial pool sales continued to grow strongly.

Fluidra was one of the winners during the COVID-19 pandemic confinements in 2020, benefiting from affluent customers' appetite to buy or upgrade pools. The company took advantage of the trend to grow through acquisitions.

Its business has slowed over the past two years as inflation deterred many from investing in high-cost assets such as pools.

(1 US dollar = 0.9312 euros)

(Reporting by Matteo Allievi; editing by Inti Landauro and Louise Heavens; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)