Rock Tech Lithium, Altech Advanced Materials, Continental - There is a lot of movement here

Rock Tech Lithium - Important piece of the puzzle

"This is an important milestone for Rock Tech and the advancement of our Guben project, as the supply of independent raw materials by third parties is a crucial step towards finalizing the financing of our German converter," commented Dirk Harbecke, CEO of the German-Canadian company, on the recent announcement.

In fact, the supply of lithium was a stumbling block, without which the further steps from financing to subsidies of well over EUR 100 million would have become much more cumbersome. The binding offer that Rock Tech Lithium received for the supply of raw materials from Castelburg Industrie GmbH, a renowned supplier to the automotive industry, for at least 250,000 tons of spodumene concentrate for the converter in Guben, caused the share price to jump well above the critical CAD 1.30 mark.

A capital round is currently planned at this level. Given the future and the security of the supply of critical lithium, some investors are likely to get their subscription certificates out of the drawer after all. The Rock Tech share is currently trading at CAD 1.45 and overcame the striking resistance at CAD 1.40 with high volume. The next hurdles now lie in the CAD 2.00 range.

Altech Advanced Materials - Fresh capital for the next steps

Like Rock Tech Lithium, Altech Advanced Materials, another German technology innovator, is planning a capital increase with a capital inflow of EUR 3.6 million. The subscription price is EUR 7.60. The measure is already secured, as the Frankfurt-based company has concluded a backstop agreement with Deutsche Balaton under which the major shareholder will take over all new shares not subscribed or placed as part of the capital increase.

Thanks to the fresh capital, Altech Advanced Material believes it will be able to cover its expenses until the end of next year. The financing of the two projects, CERENERGY® and Silumina Anodes™, is planned for mid-2024, so the potential capital requirements for implementing these projects should then be transparent.

In a joint venture with the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, Altech Advanced Materials is developing a battery that offers enormous advantages compared to conventional products. CERENERGY® technology has the potential to revolutionize the market for stationary grid storage in large-scale systems such as wind and solar parks.

Silumina Anodes™, on the other hand, could become the new standard in battery technology for electromobility. Here, batteries are provided with a special nano-coating of high-purity aluminium oxide and an enrichment of silicon, which is intended to prevent the deposition of lithium particles on the electrodes and significantly minimize the loss of capacity.

The CEO of Altech Advanced Aterials, Uwe Ahrens, will present the Company at the 9th IIF - International Investment Forum. You can register here

Continental - Focus on profitability

The automotive supplier's Capital Markets Day had several promises in store. "We are making targeted investments in those areas that will make a disproportionately high contribution to future value growth," said CEO Nikolai Setzer. Accordingly, in the next two to three years, the range of the adjusted EBIT margin expected in the medium term should be between 8% and 11% at Group level, which should also increase profitability. For 2023, the Hanover-based company anticipates an adjusted operating return on sales of 5.5% to 6.5%.

In terms of revenue, Continental is planning between EUR 44 billion and EUR 48 billion between 2025 and 2026. By 2028, at the latest, sales are expected to rise to between EUR 51 billion and EUR 56 billion. The estimates for the current financial year 2023 are between EUR 41 billion and EUR 43 billion.

The dividend payout ratio to shareholders is also set to increase. In the future, between 20 and 40% of net profit will be passed on to shareholders. To date, around 15 to 30% has been paid out in dividends.

Shareholders were not very enthusiastic about the possible spin-off of the ailing automotive supplier business, which accounts for around 25% of total sales. As a result, Continental shares fell by around 5% but recovered in the course of trading and closed virtually unchanged at EUR 71.00. Following the Capital Markets Day, UBS reiterated its target price of EUR 67. The rating was also left at "Neutral".

Rock Tech Lithium reached a significant milestone with the procurement of spodumene concentrate. Altech is fully financed for the time being with the guaranteed capital increase. The goal of automotive supplier Continental is to increase profitability.