28 February 2023
Commentaire de gestion Amplegest Pricing Power - IC - February 2023
The month of February 2023 marks a change in the trend observed since last October: namely, a more resilient inflation than expected. Combined with strong employment figures, this data supports a more restrictive monetary policy of the US and European central banks and a consequent rise in interest rates. The Amplegest Pricing Power fund gained +2.1% over the month compared to +1.9% for its benchmark. In the context described, the value style (driven by financials) outperformed the growth style.During this month of earnings releases, our selected stocks with strong pricing power performed well overall. Among the industrials, we note the good results of Legrand and Schneider in the electrical sector, as well as the encouraging results of MTU and Airbus in the aeronautical sector: the former continue to benefit from robust trends for less energy waste, while the latter see demand for new capacity from airlines continuing at a sustained level for 2023. Defensive stocks that had underperformed in January are recovering, buoyed by good quarterly reports, such as Wolters Kluwer, Pernod Ricard, Campari and Linde (which we are keeping in the fund despite its future single listing in the United States). At the other end of the spectrum, both Smurfit Kappa and Essilor-Luxottica reported unsurprising results and did not provide guidance for 2023. The healthcare sector underperformed overall, as illustrated by the latter as well as Carl Zeiss, ICON and Biomérieux. Finally, we reinforced Adyen after its publication below expectations: we see growth opportunities and management's decision to invest to seize them as positive.Within the fund, we initiated a position on the German group Atoss Software, a provider of SAAS software for human resources management. The company's pricing power is demonstrated by the significant productivity gains brought by their tool, which allows them to position themselves as a partner of choice for their clients. The management sees its sales growing by 19% per year for the next few years, with a definite operational leverage. Impacted by its status as a growth stock, the stock has been derated by almost 50% in 2022. However, the case offers strong growth and operating leverage potential in the long term. Amplifon has been sold.