VARTA WKN: A0TGJ5 ISIN: DE000A0TGJ55 Kürzel: VAR1 Forum: Aktien Thema: Hauptdiskussion

Profit warning, shares in free fall: What’s going on at Varta, Mr. Tojner?

Michael Tojner’s Varta is in turmoil. Nevertheless, the entrepreneur, who does not see himself as an investor or speculator, remains positive: Varta should become the first European battery cell producer – and quickly. That Battery company Varta has been owned by since 2007 Michael Tojners Montana Holding. After years of growth, there are now problems: high energy and raw material prices, lower sales, restructuring in the company, share sales by the owner himself. Varta’s share price has fallen by 76 percent since 2021. Nevertheless, Tojner remains positive: Varta is the battery hope for the European electric car industry. COURIER: Profit warning, falling share price, board withdrawn. What’s going on at Varta? Michael Tojner: The external image is different from the actual situation. This year we have a transition year and had to take steps that we had planned for a long time. We want a younger leadership in the Varta. And put Herbert Schein on a new project: the high-performance battery cell v4Drive. Varta will be the only European company to produce such a battery cell. APA – Austria Press Agency A business that currently exists mainly in Asia. The Asians dominate that. I think it’s the last chance for Europe to stand up to the Asians here. Why now? Because we’re going to build a much more powerful cell, a real competitive product. The train has left the conventional cells on the market. Back to Varta’s problems, which come from all sides. Like all companies, we struggle with extremely high energy and raw material costs. And with the ongoing disruption to global supply chains. As a result, the call-offs for two large orders with manufacturers have been delayed. Due to the corona pandemic, many devices did not come onto the market as quickly as hoped. We had planned a lot, but could not achieve everything. Shortly before the CEO left, you sold 1.6 million shares yourself. Why? The majority stake is and will remain important to me. However, we parted with a small block of shares in order to have liquidity. We waited for the profit warning and then sold as planned and properly.

It may not be the best signal for the market when the owner sells his shares himself. If the owner were to sell himself to buy something privately, it would send the wrong signal. We have invested an incredible amount, over a billion euros since 2018 and have made financing commitments. The stock price is down 3/4 since 2021. How do you fix that? We went public in 2017 with sales of €200 million, and in 2021 we had almost €900 million. The share price of a growth company always lives on imagination and trust. After 15 years of growth, we have to acknowledge that things are different this year. We will grow again next year. The withdrawn Varta board is to pull up the company v4Drive. The goal: cell production for electric cars in Europe. We are now spinning off the automotive business and entering into negotiations with strategic partners, i.e. car manufacturers and automotive suppliers, to ramp up cell production in Germany and another European country at a significant level. With new factories? Yes, the excavators are already in operation at the Varta plant in Nördlingen. Why is production in Europe important? We see the difficulties because the cells are currently coming from China and there are major logistical problems. Industry needs local production based in Europe. Why has Europe so far failed to do this? When I bought Varta, many consultants told me that the battery business was dead a long time ago, that the train had left for the Europeans and Americans. But it is not like that. Now let’s see what dependencies there are here. How interested are politicians in cell production in Europe? The European, German and Austrian politicians have an interest here and support with large budgets. But Asia is a different category: battery technologies have been built and supported there for decades with hundreds of billions. This is a strategically very important industry for this economic area. How much do you invest, when do you produce? Two, later 10 billion euros. Know-how is there, we are aiming for production for 2025. How much need do you see in Europe? Certainly 900 gigawatts, 200 of them in the premium range. If we had 10% market share, we would be happy.

Will there be fundamental changes in battery technology in the next few years? The cells become more powerful and effective. There are continuous developments. We will not get away from lithium, although it has to be said that lithium is not a scarce raw material. The only question is where to dismantle it. You can recycle lithium completely, and that will be done more and more. I would consider all other substances as replaceable. This topic is also being researched in Graz. In Graz there was one of the three most important universities for cell and battery research. But then the chair was deserted. We revived it, initially with three million euros. Materials research in Graz now has 20 scientists. They also want to set up a new research center in Graz. We’re already building it. And when the project is completed, 40 or 50 scientists will talk on site. Do you think that the energy crisis will delay the transition to electromobility? We have multiple crises, most notably a climate crisis, even if it is not high on the agenda at the moment. There is much debate as to whether electric mobility is the right answer. Ultimately, this is a political question that has been answered with a resounding yes. As far as the phase-out plan for combustion engines is concerned in 2035, I believe that action will certainly be taken depending on the situation. There are always reasons not to do something. Yes, that’s right. We must now seize the opportunities, roll up our sleeves and work on solutions. I would like to pass on to you as a person: You polarize people, are described as border crossers and speculators. How do you see yourself? I’m not all that. If I were a speculator, I would have sold all Varta shares at 120 euros. I want to show that we can build European champions. And you also have to be able to cope with setbacks, as is the case now. At all companies and everywhere I work, it’s about developing something entrepreneurial. You want to be seen as an entrepreneur. This is how I see myself. I started Montana because I have an interest in developing companies. I’m just not a normal industrialist who takes over and manages companies from my parents’ generation. Nor is it enough for me to build a decent Austrian company. I accelerate everything. I want to build a European champion with the Varta. The life of an entrepreneur is such that you shouldn’t let setbacks distract you. Nor of criminal proceedings and charges. That doesn’t leave me unimpressed personally. It’s also a burden on my family and my 13,000 employees. When you read what is written about me, you ask yourself why you are doing all this. I’m definitely not doing it for the money. So why? I want to make progress as an entrepreneur. I’m very proud of everything we’ve achieved with Varta: from a button cell producer that no one wanted to have to one of the world’s leading technology companies.

Guten Morgen ein schöner Tag im Sats zu stacken

Sollen die Notenbanken bei über 8% Inflation noch mehr Geld ins System pumpen? Nur damit viele eh schon extrem überbewertete Aktien noch größere Blasen bilden? Die Finanzwelt ist leider komplexer als manche Stammtischbrüder denken. Bei jeder Stellschraube muss bedacht werden, wo das welche Folgen haben kann.

Du bist doch bezahlt von Lagarde und Brainard😅😂😂😂🤣🤣

und aufgrund der Haltung der Regierung(en) "you never walk allone" (auch wenn man die Realität sicherlich differenziert betrachten könnte) - wird in Krisenzeiten wie diesen immer wieder neues Geld in das System gepumpt - und das hält auch die Finanzsysteme am Laufen...

Das Dilemma der EZB ist, dass trotz der derzeit super hohen Inflation sie gar nicht so aggressiv an der Zinsschraube drehen kann - sonst gibts die nächste Immobilienkrise, Finanzkrise, Wirtschaftskrise - schon mal darüber nachgedacht...? Zwickmühle ...

Mittwoch, 12. Oktober 2022 Der Börsen-TagExperten: EZB hebt Zinsen erneut deutlich an - Zielwert klar       Der Rat der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB) wird seine Zinsen im Oktober nach Einschätzung von Société-Générale-Volkswirt Anatoli Annenkov erneut um 75 Basispunkte anheben. "Mehrere EZB-Ratsmitglieder haben weitere signifikante Zinsschritte gefordert, einen höheren neutralen Zinssatz als bisher genannt und sogar eine Verringerung der Bilanzsumme angedeutet", schreibt Annenkov in seinem Ausblick auf die Ratssitzung am 26./27 Oktober. Auch in Anbetracht der robusten harten Konjunkturdaten und der anhaltend aggressiven Haltung der Fed erwarte er nun eine weitere Anhebung um 75 Basispunkte.

Shayzzle, Heute 0:26 Genau so sehe ich das auch 👍leider ist das die Wahrheit

Da hat jemand nichts verstanden. Corona == Geld ohne Ende von Notenbanken == gut für Aktien. Und jetzt? Das Gegenteil und extreme Verwerfungen, auch wegen dem Dummen Notenbankpolitik während Corona.

Auch die Dividende 2021 gab es nur wegen Tojners Druck. War aber auch damals nicht besonders schlau. Geld könnte man gut brauchen.