Ice cream maker Magnum's shares slump as debut results underwhelm

By Alexander Marrow

LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Magnum Ice Cream's MICCT.AS shares fell sharply on Thursday after the company reported a 48.4% drop in full-year net profit and lower than expected sales growth in its first set of results since a spin-off from Unilever in December.

Magnum's Amsterdam listing was seen as a test of its ability to boost sales of its Cornetto cones and Ben & Jerry's ice creams at a time when GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have shaken up consumer tastes and as the Trump administration pushes a "Make America Healthy Again" campaign in the U.S.

Trading in the company's shares, which had risen around 30% since Magnum's market debut prior to today, was briefly halted at the market opening.

They were 13.9% lower by 0846 GMT, on course for their steepest one-day drop since the listing.

"Shares go up and down," CEO Peter ter Kulve said on a call with journalists, suggesting that the separation from Unilever made the results hard to read.

"Overall, we are very pleased with how the Magnum share price has developed."

Net profit fell 48.4% to 307 million euros ($364.3 million) last year from 595 million euros in 2024, the company said in a statement. Revenue for the year was largely flat at 7.9 billion euros, and ter Kulve pointed to improving sales and volume growth as signs of the company's "solid operational performance".

But volumes and like-for-like sales growth fell short of expectations, JPMorgan said in a note, expecting consensus estimates for Magnum's 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin to be cut to around 16% from 16.8% as Magnum delivered 15.9% margins for 2025, a 100-basis-point drop on 2024.

Magnum maintained its 2026 outlook for organic sales growth of 3% to 5% and underlying margin improvement.

Free cash flow for the full-year slumped to 38 million euros, down from 803 million euros the year before. Magnum attributed that to significant cash outflows related to the demerger, the impact of implementing its interim operating model, interest costs on new loans, and transitional services agreements with Unilever.

($1 = 0.8428 euros)