Signify launches business review and cost cuts, shares slump as outlook disappoints

By Leo Marchandon

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Signify LIGHT.AS announced a 180-million-euro ($215 million) cost-cutting drive, affecting 900 jobs worldwide, and a broad strategic review under its new chief executive, after the world's biggest lights maker missed market forecasts for its annual results on Friday.

Its Amsterdam-listed shares fell around 15% to the bottom of Europe's benchmark Stoxx 600 index .STOXX in early trading, on track for their biggest one-day fall ever, with analysts saying the company's margin forecast for 2026 was disappointing in light of the newly announced cost savings.

Signify expects an adjusted core profit margin of between 7.5% and 8.5% for 2026. It did not give a sales guidance, but said challenging market conditions were expected to persist through the year.

The margin guidance marks the lowest level since Signify's 2016 initial public offering and falls roughly 150 basis points below market expectations, analysts from ING wrote in their take on the annual report.

A major miss on fourth-quarter results also came as a surprise, after Signify slashed its full-year guidance due to U.S. market weakness only in October, analyst Sven Weier from UBS said in a note to investors.

The Dutch group's annual sales of 5.77 billion euros missed analysts' consensus of 5.81 billion euros, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) were 30 million euros below expectations at 511 million euros.

CEO SIGNALS MAJOR CHANGES TO COME

As Templeman, who became the CEO of Signify in September, described 2026 as a transitional year while the company conducts a comprehensive review of its strategy and portfolio, with major changes to follow. Signify will share conclusions of the review at its Capital Markets Day event in June.

Talking to Reuters after the results publication, Templeman did not exclude the possibility of some forced layoffs.

A sharp deterioration in Signify's U.S. business has been a central concern for investors since the profit warning in October, triggered by a steep drop in demand from commercial and public sector clients amid tighter government spending.

But the U.S. business stabilised in the fourth quarter as private sector activity picked up. Templeman said recovery was seen across multiple segments, most notably in healthcare projects.

In Europe, public infrastructure projects remained weak in major markets including Germany, France and the Benelux countries, Signify said, adding that market conditions across its global markets would remain challenging in 2026.

($1 = 0.8383 euros)