The third quarter of 2022 brought the Montana Tech Group a massive loss of almost 45 million euros despite higher sales. This also pushed the result for the first nine months of the year deep into the red with a loss of 20.8 million euros, according to the quarterly report published on Wednesday. The slump in earnings is due to high raw material and energy prices and delayed customer projects in the Varta battery division.
The group of investor Michael Tojner consists of the battery manufacturer Varta, packaging manufacturer Aluflexpack and the system component manufacturer and aircraft supplier Montana Aerospace. Improved results at Aluflex and Montana Aerospace could only have partially offset the problems at Varta. “The overall economic situation on the world markets is also affecting us and is currently slowing down our earnings development. Our focus is therefore still on reducing our fixed costs, passing on material costs and continuously utilizing our production capacities,” writes Tojner in a press release.
According to the quarterly report, Aluflex and Montana Aerospace will meet their forecasts for the full year 2022. At Varta, the “challenging situation” with rising energy and raw material prices, a shortage of semiconductors and the delay of important projects is continuing, but “a significant improvement in earnings” can be expected next year. In particular, there is an increasing demand for energy storage solutions and household batteries. In the future, the development and expansion of the business area will be promoted with the help of strategic partners.
In the third quarter of 2022, Montana Tech posted an operating (EBIT) loss of EUR 37.4 million with sales of EUR 634 million (up 26.4 percent), the result for the period was deep red at minus EUR 44.8 million. Over the first nine months of the year, sales increased by 26.7 percent to EUR 1.75 billion. At the same time, the operating result fell by 91.2 percent to EUR 8.5 million, the result for the period turned negative (EUR 20.8 million loss).