(Recasts with EBT, adds context and estimates in paragraphs 3-4, smelter in Georgia in paragraphs 5-6, mid-term targets in paragraph 7) Oct 8 (Reuters) – Europe's largest copper producer Aurubis set an earnings target for the 2025/26 financial year broadly in line with what it had guided for the previous year on Wednesday, in a statement published ahead of its capital markets day presentation. The Hamburg-based company said it expected to reach operating earnings before taxes (EBT) in a range of 300 million to 400 million euros ($348 million to $465 million) in the financial year that started on October 1. That matched the original guidance it had given for the prior year. Aurubis, which is scheduled to publish its annual results on December 2, has since narrowed that guidance to between 330 million and 370 million euros. Analysts on average have forecasted operating EBT of 358 million euros for the fiscal 2024/25 and 375 million euros for the following year, according to a consensus compiled by Aurubis. The company is set to give an update on its new recycling smelter in Richmond County, Georgia, during the investor event on Wednesday. It launched the smelter in September 2024 and has said would take until the fiscal 2026/27 to reach full production of 70,000 metric tons of blister copper per year. In the medium term, Aurubis is targeting a 15% return on capital employed, a maximum net leverage ratio of 3.0 and an equity ratio exceeding 40%. ($1 = 0.8610 euros) (Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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