(Bloomberg) -- Logitech International SA raised its outlook for the year after the company reversed post-pandemic sales declines and posted its second straight quarter of revenue growth.
The Swiss computer hardware maker now expects sales to increase by 1% to 3% in 2024, up from the flat-to-2% range it had previously announced. Sales grew 12% in the first quarter to $4.34 billion, the Lausanne-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Logitech has returned to growth after a boom at the height of the pandemic — when customers splurged on work-from-home equipment — was followed by a sharp decline. Shares rose as much as 4.9% in Zurich trading before paring gains after the company said in an analyst call that sales growth will likely slow down in the second half.
The company’s performance has also been clouded by the ongoing feud between the company and its co-founder Daniel Borel, now a minority shareholder. Borel has forced the company to hold a vote on a new chairman at the company’s next shareholders’ meeting on Sept. 4.
The announcement of a new chief financial officer to replace Chuck Boynton is close, Chief Executive Officer Hanneke Faber said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Stock Building
In the second quarter, Logitech saw growth in its newer business-to-business operations as well as in its traditional consumer-focused categories like gaming.
Still, these results reflect distributors building their stocks ahead of the holiday season at the end of the year, Faber said in the analyst call. That trend won’t continue in the second half, she added, sending the stocks down after initial gains.
In the Bloomberg interview, Faber also said that demand in China has been softer than she planned for, adding that Logitech is stepping up innovation and partnerships in the region.
The company has “firepower for acquisitions,” she said, if a target fits its business model, pointing at the company’s healthy balance sheet.
--With assistance from Allegra Catelli.
(Updates with CEO interview from fifth paragraph)
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