ALS Ltd (ALQ) - First-half softness

October 4, 2024

ALS provides professional technical services primarily in the areas of testing, measurement, and inspection in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. It operates in two market segments, commodities and life sciences. ALS was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.

ALS warned that first-half FY25 underlying net profit would be down around 5% on a year ago, as volume declines, particularly in its Australian and Latin American operations, and higher finance costs squeezed margins for the commodity testing and life sciences group.

The company blamed the decline in volumes on several factors:

• Sluggish investment in mineral development in some Latin American countries due to political volatility;

• Weaker demand from China, the world’s largest commodity consumer; and

• Extended delays in clients raising capital before starting exploration on Australian projects

We maintain our Accumulate recommendation given the recent fall in share price, its exposure to an eventual rebound in commodity volumes as the global economy strengthens, and upside in the life sciences operations.

Insights that count

Discover the best opportunities to outperform the market. Our research team dig deep into the market, company and stock data to bring you insights others might overlook.

Transurban Group (TCL) – Hands on the wheel

Transurban Group owns and operates more than 20 toll roads in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, the Greater Washington region in the US, and in Montreal, Canada.

Learn More

Goodman Group (GMG) – Growing pipeline

Goodman Group develops and operates logistics properties and data centres in major cities across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the UK and the Americas.

Learn More

GQG Partners (GQG) – Outflows persist

GQG Partners operates as a boutique asset management company in global markets.

Learn More

Want to keep up to
date on our latest news & insights

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.