Alfen sees slowdown in charging division

Dutch energy solutions firm Alfen saw a slowdown in its EV charging division in the third quarter, with revenues falling by 51pc against the same quarter last year to €34.9mn ($37.2mn).

The decline was driven by lower volumes of sales as the firm's European customers worked their way through outstanding inventories from 2022. But the firm believes that this de-stocking is now at an end.

"Almost all customers have moved through their inventory and we have seen new orders again," says Alfen CEO Marco Roelevel.

Share of revenues in the EV division from outside the Netherlands fell to 57pc, from 72pc in the last quarter. Germany and the UK saw particularly high inventories outstanding from last year.

Roelevel refers to 2023 as "a bridge year" for its EV charging division after a large post-Covid demand spike in 2022. Alfen produced only 36,000 charge points in the third quarter, compared to 63,500 in Q3'22.

The firm expects an increase in revenues from the division in the fourth quarter, and a 15-20pc growth relative to 2023 in 2024.

The firm's EV division has two segments – home chargers and public chargers. In the home segment the firm says high EV prices means sales are still relatively slow, although a new subsidy regime coming in Belgium to incentivise second hand EVs should help.

"But fundamentally the long term trend is there and will play out over time as lower-priced EV models are introduced," says chief commercial officer Michelle Lesh.

In the public charging segment the firm expects continued growth over the next couple of years.

Earlier this month Alfen signed a four year framework agreement to be Eon Drive Infrastructure's (EDRI) hardware supplier. EDRI owns and operates 4000 EV public charging points across 10 European countries.

Alfen's adjusted Ebitda for the third quarter was €17.1mn, compared with €24.5mn in Q3'23 owing to lower volumes in the EV charging division.