BRUNNTHAL (dpa-AFX) - Driven by its expansion in the USA and India, fuel cell supplier SFC Energy plans to grow significantly in the coming years. The SDax company announced on Monday in Brunnthal near Munich that Group sales are to increase to 400 to 500 million euros by 2028. Of this, more than 15 percent is to remain as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for special effects. The new medium-term targets until 2028 follow on from the previous plan, which ran until 2025.

The news was well received by investors on the stock market: SFC Energy shares gained around nine percent to almost 20 euros around midday. This put them on course for the high reached in mid-November. Nevertheless, the losses in 2023 still add up to around a fifth.

SFC Energy had only raised its targets for the current year again in mid-November. Since then, the Management Board expects earnings of 115 to 117 million euros after 85 million euros in the previous year. Adjusted for special items, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to reach 13 to 14.1 million euros. In 2022, SFC Energy had reported 10.5 million euros here.

The company intends to achieve the targets set for 2028 with organic growth - i.e. excluding acquisitions of other companies - averaging 30 percent per year. Acquisitions are also planned.

After it became clear that the growth targets originally set for 2025 would not be achieved due to a sluggish ramp-up of the hydrogen fuel cell market and delays in the ongoing cooperation with Toyota Tsusho, the company has now presented the long-awaited new medium-term targets, wrote analyst Malte Schaumann from Warburg Research in a study.

The fuel cell manufacturer offers its customers both stationary and mobile hybrid power supplies. Only last year, SFC Energy was promoted to the second-line index SDax./lfi/ngu/mis