At the end of the year, the business development of the fast-growing charging device manufacturer did not meet the high expectations set by investors.
Electric vehicles The result of Kempower, which manufactures fast charging equipment, did not meet the high expectations placed on the stock market's growth rocket.
The share price was down more than 25 percent at 11 o'clock on Wednesday morning. From all-time highs, Kempower's course has now dropped to less than half.
Both the operational profit and the order collection fell short of the market's expectations.
The company said that some customers have delayed their orders partly because the next more advanced chargers are expected to enter the market.
The company's fixed costs had increased, and the increase in turnover clearly did not meet investors' expectations.
The company's instructions were also more cautious than expected.
October-December the order collection was 66.7 million euros, the turnover was 82.8 million and the turnover growth was 118 percent from the comparison period and the sales margin was a high 53.1 percent.
Operating income was 5.5 million euros in the last quarter of the year, while the operating profit percentage weakened to 6.7 percent.
In short in the short term, fixed costs related to growth projects are expected to exceed revenue growth, which will affect the profitability of 2024, the company announced in the financial statement release.
The company predicted that the turnover in 2024 will rise to 360–410 million euros, assuming that exchange rates do not have a significant impact. The turnover for 2023 was 283.6 million euros
A year According to the guidance's estimate, the operating profit margin in 2024 is in the 5–10 percent range.
“In the first quarter of 2024, Kempower estimates the turnover to be 51-56 million euros and the operating result to be significantly lower than the first quarter of 2023,” the company announced.
Managing director Tomi Ristimäki according to Kempower's year 2023 was excellent.
“This has been an incredible, fast-paced and exciting year for Kempower, as we almost tripled our turnover compared to last year.”
“The operating profit margin, 6.7 percent, was at a lower level than in previous quarters, as expected, and was affected by increased fixed costs, additional provisions and increased costs arising from North American operations,” Ristimäki said in the financial statement release.
Analysis company Inderes analyst Pauli Lohi estimates that even though analysts and investors had now set Kempower's earnings growth expectations too high, the industry's growth prospects are still good in the big picture.
Last year, the market for fast charging devices was worth two billion, and by 2030, the market is believed to grow to 14 billion, says Lohi.
“If only two percent of the car fleet are electric cars, the share will increase to dozens or even the majority of all cars.”
According to Lohe, Kempower's advantage is also the company's technical know-how and the rational power distribution of the devices, which lowers the price of the costs in relation to the investment.
“So far they have made desirable products.”
Kempower was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange's First North list in December 2021. The First North list offers investors the opportunity to put their money into companies in the growth and development phase.
After the first day of trading on December 14, 2021, Kempower's share ended at almost 8 euros. Since then, the share has become more expensive. Last October, the price was up to 54.4 euros. At that time, the company's market value was at its highest at more than 3 billion euros.
After the peak in October, the stock has collapsed. On Wednesday, the share was traded at 11:30 a.m. at just over 23 euros. On Wednesday, the company's market value had fallen to around 1.4 billion euros.
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