The leap forward of 2022
Regulated information –March 13th 2023 -
08:00
In 2022 Campine acquired a set
of assets in the bankruptcy proceedings from its French competitor
Recylex. In combination with a strong operational year, this
resulted in historical record profits, with the EBITDA reaching €
26.6 mio on a sales revenue which grew to € 317.4 mio.
The acquired assets consist of 2 lead-acid
battery breaker plants and a PP plastic recycling factory in
France. “Campine is now Europe’s second largest lead-acid battery
reprocessing company” states CEO De Vos “There is a clear
consolidation in Europe with some temporary and definite lead metal
production plant closures, which currently creates a relative
shortage of lead metal in Europe. So our expansion in France was
perfectly timed” he concludes.
The diversification into plastics recycling was
a logical next step “In our business plan we had foreseen to enter
the Polypropylene recycling market with an own investment. This
acquisition now gives us a leap forward both in plastics as in
battery recycling” adds De Vos.
The battery breaker activities in France are
hosted in a new business unit called ‘recycled Batteries’ and are
integrated in our Circular Metals division (formerly Metals
Recycling division) as it is an upstream addition to its business.
The plastics recycling company C2P becomes Campine ‘recycled
Polymers’ business unit and is hosted in the Specialty Chemicals
division, due to its overlap in customers and technology with our
Flame Retardant Masterbatches BU (formerly Plastics BU) in
Beerse.
The demand in the Specialty
Chemicals division remained extremely high until the 2022
summer, normalized during autumn and weakened somewhat further at
year-end. The rise of antimony metal prices which started mid 2020
came to its peak of about $ 14,000/ton during the summer and
reflected the weakened demand by cooling down towards $ 11,000 at
year-end. The second semester was thus rather difficult, as we had
to cope with stock value depreciations due to the lower market
prices, which put pressure on the margins.
In the Circular Metals division
the demand remained strong throughout the year 2022. “With the
expansion, we now recycle a volume of 180 thousand tons used
batteries, which is the equivalent of 10 million car batteries per
year.” says David Wijmans, division director of Campine’s Circular
Metals division “Additionally we expanded our feedstock reach, as
we now collect used batteries in a much broader region”. Lead LME
prices decreased in the 1st semester after the onset of the Russia
- Ukraine war, but recovered toward year-end. Campine also
continued its efficiency and renewal investments in Beerse by
installing new state of the art equipment.
Campine can generally pass on
the higher costs such as energy prices, inflation and other
increased expenses to the market, although sometimes with a delay
to respect active contracts. To cover the unusual high inflation
and energy situation Campine worked and is working with its
suppliers and customers to spread the burden and reach a balanced
‘new normal’. In comparison with other metallurgical companies, the
impact of energy costs at Campine is limited.
Campine NV (EU:CAMB)
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De Oct 2024 a Nov 2024
Campine NV (EU:CAMB)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Nov 2023 a Nov 2024
