Monbat

Leading lead acid car batteries producer Monbat to acquire a recycling plant in Italy, according to regulatory filing by the Company.

Monbat will acquire the licensed recycling plant Piombifera Italiana S.p.A in Brescia, Italy. According to the Company the Italian facility is one of the three largest companies for batteries recycling in the country and has the capacity to process 70 000 tonnes per year.

This is Monbat fourth recycling plant

Currently, Monbat has three recycling plants in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia with a total capacity of 60 000 tonnes per year. The Company uses the recycled lead mostly for its own production. It will employ the Italian facility product it its own production as well as the Company recently finalized a lead acid batteries production capacity expansion.

The acquisition of new recycling facilities is part of the group’s strategy for growth through geographic diversification of capacities, Monbat added in the regulatory filing. The management of Monbat AD expects the acquisition agreement to be signed by the end of September 2017. No immediate details on the acquisition price.

Sales outpacing Monbat management guidance

Monbat booked 27% y/y surge in sales but only 7.1% y/y rise in EBITDA for Jan-Aug’17, according to preliminary monthly data published regularly by the Company.

Sales for the eight month period from January to August 2017 rose 27% y/y to BGN 196m and outpace management guidance for FY 2017. Yet EBITDA came at BGN 31.5m, or 7.10% y/y rise on higher LME cost during stocking. EBITDA margin stood at 16.06%, below management guidance, but better than earlier summer months. Earnings before taxes arrived at BGN 20.6m up 5.4%, also below guidance.

H1 top line surged 22.5%

Monbat (5MB BU) booked 34% y/y top line surge and 22.5% y/y EBITDA improvement in H1’17, according to the Company’s consolidated financial statement for the period. Sales advanced to BGN 150.9m on both volumes and LME price improvement. EBITDA surged 22.5% y/y to BGN 25.6m but EBITDA margin slid to 17% in H1’17 from 18% in Q1’17, on higher material costs. Net income advanced 20.7% y/y to BGN 15.2m.

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