Highlights:
Q1 2024 revenue amounted to €116.8m, a 3% growth versus Q1 2023 (€113.2m), driven by Smart Grid Solutions (+32%) versus Energy Storage (-8%) and EV Charging (-16%).
Gross margin stable at 32.0% compared with 32.1% in Q1 2023. Note: this gross margin excludes the one-off €5m costs related to the Liander Pacto substations moisture issue.
Adjusted EBITDA declined 25% to €9.6m (8.2% of revenue) from €12.7m in Q1 2023 (11.2% of revenue) as a result of lower revenue in Energy Storage.
Revenue backloaded towards H2 2024 driven by ramp-up in substation production, demand for AFIR-compliant EV chargers and timing of energy storage projects.
Alfen has found an interim CFO: Onno Krap will join Alfen per May 21st 2024.
Alfen has extended its Executive Committee with Bart Kempen (COO) and Anne van Nood (CHRO).
Alfen reconfirms its 2024 full-year revenue, EBITDA margin and FCF outlook. Alfen also reconfirms its growth ambitions for Smart Grid Solutions and EV Charging, but Energy Storage will likely be less than 40% revenue growth due to rapid decline in battery prices.

ALMERE, THE NETHERLANDS – Alfen N.V. (AEX: ALFEN), a specialist in energy solutions for the future, today publishes its trading update for the first quarter of 2024.


Marco Roeleveld, CEO of Alfen, said:
“The first quarter showed modest revenue growth of 3%, driven by strong growth (+32%) in Smart Grid Solutions (SGS). SGS is growing fast as grid operators are scaling up to strengthen the distribution grid. For Q2, we expect one-off impact on SGS revenue due to the temporary production stop for Liander, but for the full year we continue to expect roughly 20% revenue growth as we can largely catch up on production in Q3 and Q4.

EV Charging (EVC) revenue declined compared to Q1 2023, but quarter-on-quarter we continue to see modest growth (+2%). In 2024 we expect to grow this business line by approximately 15%, partly driven by strong order intake for our new public charger (Twin 5 Plus) that is compliant with the new European AFIR regulation on payment transparency.

Revenue in Q1 for Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) were lower compared to last year as a result of the volatile nature of revenue recognition in this business line. Due to falling battery prices over the past couple of months and the volatile nature of revenue recognition, we now expect less than 40% revenue growth. We expect the rate of battery price decline to slow as it is coupled with the current slowdown in EV sales. At the same time, we already see a market response to lower battery prices and more projects in our qualified leads pipeline, for which Alfen is well positioned, especially with our modular TheBattery Elements solution. There is a certain time lag effect to this increased volume response from the market before it generates revenue. Based on the status of pending projects and deals that are close to being awarded, we see ESS revenue growth backloaded towards the second half of this year.

We decided to fill our open CFO position on a temporary basis to give us time to carefully manage the selection process for a permanent CFO going forward. We intend to announce a permanent CFO in early 2025.

I am pleased to share that Onno Krap will join Alfen as Interim CFO as per 21 May 2024. He will focus on leading our financial priorities. Onno brings 25+ years of broad finance and leadership experience to Alfen. He has worked in a variety of finance roles in a wide range of industries across multiple public, private and PE owned companies. In particular, he has a balanced mix of experience as both a strategic advisor, as well as hands-on operational leader with expertise building processes, teams and capabilities in international manufacturing settings.

Until recently he was the CFO and Member of the Board at Kinly Group BV, a PE owned global service provider in the visual collaboration industry. Prior to that, he accumulated extensive experience as CFO and Member of the Board for 7 years at Exact Group NV (later BV), an international software vendor in 17+ countries. He was also CFO at Crucell, a vaccine company with operating activities in 8 countries.

As previously announced, Jeroen van Rossen will stay on as an advisor to the Board. He will work closely with Onno to ensure a smooth transition.

As Alfen continues to grow, we decided to extend the Executive Committee as per January this year with Bart Kempen (COO) and Anne van Nood (CHRO). This extended executive team allows for more dedicated attention on key areas of the business such as operations (previously with CEO) and people (previously with CFO), while it leads to more focus for the existing Board.

In 2024, we reiterate our revenue guidance in the range of €590 to €660 million. We expect that the majority of the revenue will be achieved in the second half due to the ramp-up in substation production, demand for AFIR-compliant EV chargers and timing of our energy storage projects. We expect to generate positive free cash flow over 2024, and to improve our adjusted EBITDA margin relative to the 11.3% in FY2023.”


Financial highlights
see & read more on
https://alfen.com/nl/news/alfen-sees-moderate-revenue-growth-first-quarter-and-reconfirms-full-year-guidance

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