FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Sartorius preference shares regained their footing on Thursday after heavy losses the previous day. Shortly after midday, they were in first place in the friendly Dax with a plus of 2.3 percent. They last traded at 214.20 euros after a low of 209.40 euros the previous day.

However, this is currently nothing more than a stabilization after the share price slide of over 14% in the middle of the week, which marked the lowest level since spring 2020. The shares of subsidiary Sartorius Stedim Biotech, which had also plummeted the day before, made less significant progress on Euronext on Wednesday, gaining 0.7 percent.

Statements made by the pharmaceutical and laboratory supplier at a Citigroup healthcare conference in London were probably decisive for the recent share price losses. Citigroup analyst Peter Verdult wrote that the management was very cautious with regard to a recovery in the current year. This would be influenced by customer behavior, persistently restricted budgets and continued destocking. According to Verdult, the recovery is likely to become increasingly "complicated" in the second half of the year. The order backlog may not be sufficient to cushion the weak recovery in new orders.

So far in 2024, Sartorius shares have lost around 36 percent, making it the weakest stock in the leading DAX index. The company had already been punished on the stock market in mid-April for its first-quarter results. The recovery in the bioprocess area in particular was disappointing.

As Citigroup expert Verdult went on to write, investors' expectations for the year as a whole were already below the lower end of Sartorius' forecast. The fact that the Gottingen-based company was able to cut its forecast is therefore likely to continue to weigh on the share price./ajx/tih/mis