Colruyt at 17-mth highs tops BEL 20 on 'sharp' guidance hike

** Shares in Colruyt COLR soar 9.5%, topping Belgium's blue-chip BEL 20 index (.BFX) after the supermarket chain raised its outlook following its Wednesday's AGM

** The company now expects for FY 2023/2024 its adjusted EBIT and net profit to increase "sharply" or by at least 50%, well above previous guidance

** KBC deems the upgrade "a sizeable improvement" vs. Colruyt's June guidance only mentioning a "significant" increase that the broker estimated at 12%-20%

** It adds that "consensus will have to revise their estimates to the upside" despite macroeconomic context and high competitiveness, with an increase in promotional pressure

** The AGM also approved proposed dividend of 0.8 euro per share, to distribute interim dividend of 1.0 euro per share from the sale of its Parkwind's wind energy activities to Japan's JERA

** Shares are on track for their best day since mid-June, and touch their highest price since in a little over 17 months