Energy solutions company Alfen has seen its revenue climb across all three of its business lines, with its electric vehicle (EV) charging arm recording the biggest increase.
The company posted strong financial results as a whole for Q1 2020, with its EBITDA jumping from €1.7 million (£1.5 million) in Q1 2019 to €4.6 million (£4 million).
However, it was its EV charging equipment arm that saw the biggest increase during the quarter, with its revenues jumping from €4.5 million (£3.9 million) in Q1 2020 to €13.2 million (£11.5 million), an increase of 194%.
The company cited the growing market for EVs, increasing volumes under the framework agreements that have been set up over the last few years, “new client wins” and further internationalisation for its growth, adding that its business in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany experienced strong growth in particular.
Over the quarter, it produced around 13,200 charge points, up 207% from Q1 2019.
Alfen is also planning to relocate its EV charging operation to larger facilities in a move to significantly expanding its production capacity.
It wasn’t only its EV arm that saw a climb in revenues, however, with its energy storage systems business line generating revenues of €3.2 million (£2.8 million), up 144% from Q1 2019.
This was a result of a “significant pick-up in the demand for energy storage projects” in comparison to the first quarter of 2019, which Alfen said was characterised by “challenging market circumstances”.
It pointed to recent commercial successes, including a contract for a 20MWh energy storage system for Vattenfall in Sweden and a project delivering 3 storage systems totaling 2.5MWh to provide frequency stability services for investment holding company Nuhma on behalf of 41 Belgium municipalities.
Alfen has also seen revenues grow 25% in its smart grid solutions arm, which it said was due to grid investments, projects in the solar PV sector and “revenues from service”.
Looking ahead, Alfen stated that whilst the impact of COVID-19 on the market and its business “remains uncertain”, the company is focused on growing its market share, increasing cross-selling opportunities between its business lines and further expanding its service offering.
Long-term, it is anticipating positive market developments in all its business lines, it said.
Its gross margin in Q1 2020 was 34.8%, a slight rise from 33.8% in Q4 2019 but a small drop in comparison with 36.2% in Q1 2019.
The net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio also saw a slight increase from 1.3 at 31 December 2019 to 1.4 at 31 March 2020, which Alfen said was as a result of working capital movements.
Marco Roeleveld, CEO of Alfen, confirmed that the company’s order intake is “reasonably strong with no cancelled orders” and that its supply chain and production are both up and running.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and are taking proactive steps where needed to address the situation as best as we can.”
