Climate-neutral green hydrogen produced is one of the future energy sources. Therefore, it is not surprising that numerous German medium-sized companies are active in the hydrogen technology sector. This includes the SFC Energy AG based in Brunnthal near Munich, which is a German hydrogen pioneer.

The Bavarian fuel cell manufacturer presented its business figures for the first nine months of this year yesterday. At the same time, the company has also increased its forecasts for the full year. Before I go into the current business figures in more detail, I would like to briefly introduce you to the fuel cell manufacturer.

SFC Energy in brief SFC Energy AG was founded in 2000 under the name SFC Smart Fuel Cell. The company was originally specialized in the manufacture and distribution of direct methanol fuel cells used to power recreational vehicles and caravans.

Over the years, SFC Energy has reportedly become a world-leading corporate group for mobile energy and power management solutions for the Clean Energy and Clean Power Management markets. SFC’s customers include automotive suppliers, recreational vehicle manufacturers, and the military.

In its 23-year corporate history, SFC has sold more than 65,000 fuel cells worldwide. The company has production sites in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, India and Canada. The fuel cell manufacturer went public in 2007 and has been part of the SDAX small cap index since 2022.

Impressive nine-month figures In the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, SFC was able to increase its sales compared to the previous year by 38% to 88 million euros. The sales in the Clean Energy segment increased by 34.1% and in the Clean Power Management segment by 46.8%.

SFC was also able to significantly improve its results. The gross result in the first nine months rose by 42.6% to 33.3 million euros. The reason for this increase was both the margin expansion associated with the strong sales growth and improved pricing and an attractive product mix.

The gross margin (gross result in percentage of sales revenues) of the company was 37.9% in the reporting period, slightly above the previous year’s level of 36.6%. The adjusted operating result (adjusted EBIT) was 7.6 million euros at the end of September, more than double the previous year.

Order intake in the reporting period was 89.7 million euros, slightly above the high level of the previous year of 88.3 million euros. The order backlog at September 30th increased compared to the same period last year by almost 20 million euros to 75.3 million euros.

Annual forecast revised Due to the positive business performance in the first nine months of the current year, the SFC management expects to exceed the previous sales forecast for the 2023 financial year. According to this, sales will be in a range of about 115 to 117 million euros. Previously, the sales forecast was between 107 and 111 million euros.

At the result level, the management has specified its originally made forecast at the upper end of the expected range. Thus, SFC now expects an adjusted EBIT in a range of 7.5 to 8.6 million euros. Previously, the forecast range was 5 to 8.6 million euros.

The Bavarian fuel cell manufacturer has been making losses for many years. This changed last year, when the EBIT was back in positive territory after a long dry spell. If the good operational development of the past months continues, the SFC stock could become an exciting investment in the hydrogen sector.