Die Varta AG hat sich auf der European Conference der Berenberg Bank präsentiert. Die Berenberg-Analysten haben den Vortrag von CFO Michael Pistauer zusammengefasst.

VARTA AG
Capital Goods & Industrial Engineering, Buy; PT: EUR25.00

VARTA CFO Michael Pistauer opened the third day of our Pennyhill conference with an optimistic presentation. He touched on the structural trends in the consumer electronics and healthcare end- markets – such as the increasing adoption of wearable technology, the ageing population and underpenetration – that are driving demand for batteries. Recent trading, with revenue growth of 11.3% yoy and an EBIT margin of 12.9% in Q3, shows that VARTA has been able to benefit nicely from the positive market dynamics. The Microbatteries segment remains the company’s main growth driver, with revenues up by 13.4% for the first nine months of the year. This resulted from above-market demand for VARTA’s hearing aid batteries as well as the rapid growth in sales of the company’s lithium-ion microbatteries.

Highly successful IPO paves the way for growth: With the cEUR150m in cash proceeds realised from VARTA’s recent IPO, the company has embarked on its most ambitious expansion programme to date. The proceeds will be used to fund capacity additions, with cEUR80m earmarked for expansion of lithium-ion capacity, and further market consolidation. We view this as an exciting opportunity for the company to expand into a dynamic, fast-growing portion of the batteries market.

Strong growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries for “hearables”: VARTA has published its order backlog of lithium-ion microbatteries. At the end of September, the unit order backlog stood at 14.6m cells, up significantly from 10.2m in June and 3.2m in December 2016. VARTA also announced two design projects with new clients Merry Electronics and Goertek. The company started to expand production capacity immediately after the IPO and is adding a new production line every month, which should result in a smooth ramp-up.

Sales growth from 2018 onward in Power and Energy: The development phase for a number of key projects in the Power and Energy segment has now concluded. This should result in further sales growth from 2018 as these projects enter the next phase of their life cycle. The segment grew by 9.4% yoy in Q3 as the trend towards increasing use of autonomous power supplies and stationary energy storage systems continues.