Fresenius Medical Care's 2030 targets underwhelm market

(Reuters) -Fresenius Medical Care, the world's largest dialysis specialist, on Tuesday set targets for the period to 2030 and said that it plans to embark on a 1 billion euro ($1.16 billion) share buyback programme.

However, the plans underwhelmed investors and shares in the company fell by as much as 5.6%, making it the poorest performer within Germany's blue-chip index.

Ahead of its capital markets day, the dialysis provider for 300,000 patients worldwide said it aimed to reach a "mid-teens" percent operating income margin excluding one-off items by 2030.

The company declined to specify how it defined "mid-teens".

For 2025, operating income excluding one-off items is expected to increase by the "high teens to high twenties" percentage range, benefiting from a margin of 11 to 12 percent, the company said.

"FMC has only delivered what was expected - now no further buying triggers (are) to be expected and investors are retreating to the sidelines for the time being," a Germany-based trader told Reuters.

The company is also targeting an additional 300 million euros savings within two years, it said.

"We plan to return excess capital to our shareholders through a 30 to 40% dividend payout plus the opportunity for regular share buybacks," Chief Executive Officer Helen Giza said in a statement.

Fresenius Medical Care said that it is planning 800 million euros to 1 billion euros of capital expenditure each year between 2025 and 2030. It lowered its target band for net financial leverage to between 2.5x-3.0x, from a previous range of 3.0x-3.5x.

($1 = 0.8650 euros)

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Patricia Weiss and Stefanie Geiger in Frankfurt, editing by Matt Scuffham)