Davy Morning Equity Briefing
May 22, 2026
Genuit Group
Challenging trading conditions prompt a cut to full year expectations
Genuit has had a challenging start to the year due to the pressures of lower volumes and input cost inflation. Guidance suggests the consensus operating profit forecast for this year could fall by around 7%. In some respects, it could be argued that a downbeat outlook has been anticipated with the stock down almost 20% year-to-date and one-third lower than where it was a year ago. Moreover, ahead of the update Genuit had de-rated significantly with the group’s current year P/E multiple falling to over 30% below its long-term average. This provides some margin of error, but the wider context is a Genuit business that has struggled for a number of years to generate any form of favourable operational momentum.
Irish economy
Volatile labour force survey at odds with steady payroll gains
We have noted for some time increased uncertainty surrounding the official labour market data, which have been volatile and difficult to interpret due to base effects. The latest Q1 2026 results show a far weaker picture than other hard-data sources, including employee payrolls and income tax receipts which grew robustly. Weaker response rates and consumer sentiment could be factors behind survey results becoming less reliable. We also suspect that adult population growth will be revised up with Census 2027.
