4imprint Group shares tumble amid order intake concerns

Investing.com -- Shares of 4Imprint Group Plc (LON:FOUR) fell sharply over 10% on Wednesday as investors reacted to company's slight decline in revenue at the order intake level in the first two months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.

"In the first two months of 2025 revenue at the order intake level was slightly down compared to the same period in 2024, reflecting continued uncertainty in the market," 4Imprint Group Chairman Paul Moody said in a statement. 

Moody also expressed confidence in the company's strategy and competitive position, despite the challenging near-term market conditions that could affect demand throughout 2025.

Despite reporting a strong financial performance for 2024, the company acknowledged a decrease in new customer acquisition, attributing it to ongoing economic uncertainties.

The company, which outperformed the promotional products market in 2024, saw its total orders for the year increase to 2,124,000 from 2,090,000 in 2023. This growth was driven by a rise in existing customer orders, which helped offset the downward trend in acquiring new customers.

Barclays (LON:BARC) analysts provided a sobering perspective, indicating that while the company's free cash flow yield of 6.2% for fiscal year 2024 is attractive, there is an expectation of a near-term de-rating of the stock.

"Whilst macro challenges and tariff risks have been widely debated with investors, and have contributed to recent share price weakness, we expect a negative reaction to the results given the comments on order intake being slightly down year to date, vs our expectation of 4% order growth in FY25," Barclays said in a note. 

"Management have great experience of navigating more challenging periods, and we fully expect them to be good stewards of the business for the longer term. FY24 FCF yield of 6.2% is attractive, but near term de-rating likely," according to Barclays.