EQS-News: SFC Energy AG releases preliminary Group figures for 2024 – earnings forecast exceeded – strongest growth in defence & public security as well as in India

SFC Energy AG releases preliminary Group figures for 2024 – earnings forecast exceeded – strongest growth in defence & public security as well as in India

• Successful continuation of the profitable growth course
• Top end of sales forecast achieved: 22.5% increase in Group sales to EUR 144,754 thousand (2023: EUR 118,148 thousand)
• Earnings above the forecast: 45.2% increase in adjusted EBITDA to EUR 22,008 thousand (2023: EUR 15,158 thousand), adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.2% significantly above the previous year (2023: 12.8%)
• Significant increase of 60.4% in adjusted EBIT to EUR 15,556 thousand (2023: EUR 9,696 thousand), wider adjusted EBIT margin of 10.7% (2023: 8.2%)
• Higher order backlog of EUR 104,583 thousand as of the 2024 reporting date (31 December 2023: EUR 81,300 thousand)
• Internationalisation: Asia and Europe the fastest-growing regions
• Forecast for 2025: double-digit sales growth to between EUR 160.6 million and EUR 180.9 million, adjusted EBITDA of between EUR 24.7 million and EUR 28.2 million and adjusted EBIT of between EUR 17.5 million and EUR 20.6 million

Brunnthal/Munich, Germany, 25 February 2025 – SFC Energy AG (“SFC”, F3C:DE ISIN: DE0007568578), a leading supplier of hydrogen and methanol fuel cells for stationary, portable and mobile hybrid power solutions, has announced its preliminary full-year figures for 2024 as well as its guidance for 2025.

Report by the Management Board

Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Energy AG: “In 2024, we continued to expand our leading position in fuel cell technologies. Sharp organic growth and a significant increase in profitability are our distinguishing features in the sector, combined with targeted strategic investments and successful, consistent internationalisation. The main growth drivers were defence and public security with a significant increase of around 60%, industrial applications for fuel cells, which expanded by around 36%, and the dynamic growth (12.9%) in the power management sector. The high level of activity in the defence sector also reflects the changed geopolitical situation. In addition, the market for civilian security and surveillance technologies is growing rapidly as a technology-based, reliable and cost-effective alternative to physical security personnel. With our sustainable and economically viable fuel cell solutions, we have established a leading market position worldwide and are excellently positioned in this dynamic environment.

Another strong signal comes from the fact that we have massively expanded our production capacities with the final ramp-up of production in India and Romania as our largest future production site. In Swindon, UK, we fundamentally expanded our technological footprint in a performance and cost-critical component of fuel cells by establishing and ramping up membrane electrode assembly (MEA) development and production. In this way, we are also aiming to achieve a long-term competitive advantage in this part of the value chain and were additionally able to resolve temporary capacity limitations in order to meet rising demand. At the same time, we have significantly increased our profitability by expanding our gross margin and optimising production processes together with a high-margin product mix, general cost discipline and our ability to set prices.

Our successful expansion in Asia is paying off clearly with very strong sales growth of around 86% compared to the previous year. Our strategy is proving its merits in India in particular: by expanding our local production in Gurgaon, Haryana, we are able to meet the national requirements for local value creation (“Make in India”) and the growing demand for defence and public security solutions in particular, such as for the Indian Ministry of Defence, while strengthening our market position in the long term.

We also see clear opportunities for dynamic growth in the United States, as the new administration is prioritising key industries such as oil and gas, mining, defence and public security, in which we are already positioned. With our new location in Salt Lake City, we can build up local content (such as in India) in the short term. In this way, we can also specifically overcome potential protectionist measures and trade barriers such as protective tariffs. In order to achieve above-average growth in the US market in the long term, we are not ruling out the possibility of acquisitions. Although 2024 saw a slight year-on-year decline in sales due to a consolidation phase at a major customer, North America remains stable as a whole and continues to offer great potential for our future growth.

Thanks to the very high order intake in the fourth quarter of 2024, we have entered 2025 on a strong note with a record order backlog of EUR 104,583 thousand. In the current year, we are systematically driving forward our digital transformation with the introduction of a global ERP system. At the same time, we are stepping up our security architecture and intensifying our cyber security measures to ensure the highest standards of digital protection and data integrity. Our strategy with its three growth pillars is in place: we will continue to drive our market penetration and international expansion, invest in the development of new fuel cell technologies and IP, broaden the cloud capabilities of our products and supplement our growth with targeted M&A activities.”

Sales and earnings

SFC Energy AG successfully continued on its profitable growth path in 2024, additionally improving its financial performance. According to preliminary, unaudited figures, sales increased by 22.5% to EUR 144,754 thousand (2023: EUR 118,148 thousand), thus reaching the upper end of the guidance (between EUR 142,000 thousand and EUR 145,000 thousand). This increase is particularly due to the continued high demand for fuel cell solutions and the associated sales growth in the Clean Energy segment. The Clean Power Management segment also enjoyed a successful year with double-digit sales growth.

Adjusted EBITDA increased significantly in 2024 by 45.2% to EUR 22,008 thousand (2023: EUR 15,158 thousand). At 15.2%, the adjusted EBITDA margin significantly exceeded the previous year in 2024 (2023: 12.8%). EBIT adjusted for special effects also rose substantially by 60.4% to EUR 15,556 thousand (2023: EUR 9,696 thousand), causing the adjusted EBIT margin to widen noticeably to 10.7% (2023: 8.2%). The earnings forecast was therefore exceeded (adjusted EBITDA forecast: between EUR 20,000 thousand and EUR 21,500 thousand; adjusted EBIT forecast: between EUR 13,800 thousand and EUR 15,100 thousand). In addition to the very sharp rise in sales, the main drivers were wider gross margins in conjunction with a disproportionately low increase in adjusted functional costs compared to sales.

Segment performance

The Clean Energy segment achieved strong sales growth of 27.3% to EUR 100,606 thousand (2023: EUR 79,032 thousand) thanks to the continued strong demand for fuel cell solutions. This performance was due in particular to the consistently positive demand situation with respect to the Group’s energy solutions in the core target markets for industrial applications such as civil security technology, data transmission, digitalisation and energy as well as for defence.

Sales in the Clean Power Management segment rose by 12.9% to EUR 44,148 thousand (2023: EUR 39,116 thousand). This growth was underpinned by continued high demand on the part of existing and new customers, both in Europe and North America. In this context, recurring sales from customers in the analytical industry with good price enforcement, deeper customer relationships in the semiconductor equipment market and the successful launch of the Standard Power platform also left positive traces.

Order intake and backlog

The favourable performance is also reflected in the strong order intake, which increased to EUR 167,670 thousand in the year under review (2023: EUR 124,799 thousand). The Group’s order backlog climbed by 28.6% to EUR 104,583 thousand as of 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023: EUR 81,300 thousand).

Forecast for 2025

Daniel Saxena, CFO of SFC Energy AG: “We are distinctly optimistic about the future of SFC Energy, and not only because of our recent sales successes. Thanks to the continued high demand for our sustainable and economical energy solutions in SFC’s key target markets and the continuous and sustained expansion of our business, we expect to remain firmly on our dynamic and profitable growth trajectory in 2025. Accordingly, we will continue to pursue our strategy of healthy growth, characterised in particular by a correlation between sustainable profitability and sales growth.”

In the current year, Group sales are expected to grow by between 11% and 25% year-on-year to between EUR 160.6 million and EUR 180.9 million and will be driven to a much greater extent by the Clean Energy segment. Demand should rise in all regional markets in 2025, with the strongest growth momentum likely to come from North America and Asia.

The Management Board expects adjusted EBITDA to climb to between EUR 24.7 million and EUR 28.2 million in 2025, thereby resulting in a wider margin. This margin expansion will be underpinned by continued strong demand but is dependent on the timing of planned growth investments, particularly in connection with the further expansion of the US and Danish sites and the implementation of the new ERP system at the Group level. It also assumes that the higher costs can be passed on to customers to a certain extent.

Based on the budgets for the Clean Energy and Clean Power Management segments, the Management Board expects adjusted EBIT for the Group to reach a figure between EUR 17.5 million and EUR 20.6 million in 2025.

Earnings call

SFC Energy AG will be holding a conference call in English for interested investors and members of the press at 9.00 a.m. today, 25 February 2025.

To register, please send an e-mail message to susan.hoffmeister@sfc.com.

The figures published in this press release are preliminary and unaudited. SFC Energy AG will be publishing its final figures for the 2024 financial year in its 2024 Annual Report on 27 March 2025.

About SFC Energy AG
SFC Energy AG (www.sfc.com) is a leading provider of hydrogen and methanol fuel cells for stationary, portable and mobile hybrid power solutions. With the Clean Energy and Clean Power Management business segments, SFC Energy is a sustainably profitable fuel cell producer. The Company distributes its award-winning products worldwide and has sold more than 75,000 fuel cells to date. The Company is headquartered in Brunnthal/Munich and has operating subsidiaries in Canada, India, the Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. SFC Energy AG is listed on the Deutsche Boerse Prime Standard and has been part of the selection index SDAX since 2022 (GSIN: 756857, ISIN: DE0007568578).

SFC Energy Investor Relations and Press:
Susan Hoffmeister
Phone +49 89 125 09 03-33
Email: susan.hoffmeister@sfc.com
Web: sfc.com
 

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This corporate news may contain certain forward-looking statements, estimates, opinions and projections regarding the future development of the company (“forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements can be recognised by terms such as “assume”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend”, “will” or “should” as well as their negation and similar variants or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements include all matters that are not based on historical facts. They are based on the current opinions, forecasts and assumptions of the Management Board of SFC Energy AG and involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and are not necessarily reliable indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. All forward-looking statements contained in this corporate news apply only as of the date of this release. The company will not update or revise the information, forward-looking statements or conclusions contained in this corporate news to reflect any subsequent events, circumstances or inaccuracies that may arise after the date of this corporate news as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, and assumes no obligation to do so. We provide no guarantee whatsoever that the forward-looking statements or assumptions contained herein will materialise.