Alfen's Two-Tempo Year: Front-Loaded H1, Softer H2 — and a Sodium-Ion Bet on 2027
A 23.6% top-line surge, a deliberate mix shift toward storage, a balance-sheet swing from net debt to net cash — and a CATL-backed chemistry pivot that defines the next leg.
ALFEN.AS · Earnings Call · 2026-08-19
A Front-Loaded Spring
Alfen's H1 '26 reads like a turnaround quarter executed: revenue of EUR 261.5M, up 23.6%; adjusted EBITDA of EUR 16.4M with margin improving to 6.3%; and a balance sheet that flipped from EUR 20.7M of net debt to EUR 6.2M of net cash in six months. Interim CFO Bart Meussen — presenting for the first time after joining on July 1 — credited working capital discipline, with inventory down EUR 19.7M and operating cash flow of EUR 36.5M. But the half is deliberately front-loaded, and management was blunt about the back half.The engine pulling the half was energy storage, up 88% to EUR 98.8M, with Smart Grid Solutions up 14.9% and EV charging down 17% as planned. That engine is also the margin drag: the business-unit mix shift toward storage pulled group gross margin to 26.1% from 30.1% a year earlier, even as each unit's margin held inside its expected band. It is the same dynamic analysts chased through 2025 — the lead-time constraint that compressed storage revenue into a narrow delivery window was flagged a year ago: "there is lead time in batteries. But there's even more lead time in inverters." It still shapes the 2026 distribution today.The second half will be softer than the first half, resulting in a lower top line compared to the second half last year and the first half this year. As a consequence, we expect this to affect our adjusted EBITDA in the remainder of the year.
The Cost of Change Is a Line Item
The most-watched number may be the one that does not move revenue: adjusted personnel expenses rose 6.1% to EUR 40.1M, and the company was explicit that they will be higher in the second half as the old and new organizations overlap during the restructuring. This is the theme that spiked hardest this quarter: personnel expenses is Alfen's #1-ranked keyword. The squeeze echoes the prior CFO's blunt arithmetic from February: "We need around EUR 30 million to EUR 32 million in EBITDA to be autonomously cash flow positive." At H1's EUR 16.4M run rate, hitting that full-year line depends on an H2 that management itself guides softer — the tension at the heart of the reiterated 4%–7% EBITDA band. EV charging is the second half of the turnaround, and again it is a next-year story. The new charger for the residential segment is on schedule, but full impact lands in 2027: “We expect to see the full impact of the new home charger in 2027.” — Michael Colijn, CEO · 2026-08-19 Every call going back a year has deferred the EV recovery to the following year, even as European registrations of battery electric vehicles grew 35% in the half, underscoring the gap between charging infrastructure demand and Alfen's current product cycle.The Sodium-Ion Pivot
The genuinely new, company-unique theme this quarter is chemistry. In July, Alfen and CATL announced a partnership to deploy sodium-ion battery storage across Europe, extending a multi-year cooperation into a new battery technology. Sodium ion is Alfen's #2 keyword on its sharpest momentum jump, and the framing is distinctly long-horizon:That does not change the numbers today — a deliberate position. The bet is about 2028 positioning: two chemistries, two supply routes, one engineering base, a hedge against lithium price and availability swings. It separates a system integrator from a pure project house. The leadership deck is also resetting: three new business-unit directors, a new HR director, and an interim CFO while the permanent search runs. Underpinning it, Smart Grid Solutions (EUR 111.6M, +14.9%) is guided to remain a "predictable smooth ride" through H2 — the one unit where stability, not drama, is the news. The near-term cost growth, the front-loaded storage book, and the sodium-ion pivot together tell a deliberate two-tempo story: harvest H1, absorb transformation costs in H2, and point both the new charger platform and the new chemistry at 2027.The raw materials are more widely available compared to lithium, about 1,000x more abundant. Its safety performance is strong. It is able to operate reliably across a much wider temperature range... We expect to bring our first sodium-ion project to market from the second half of '27, starting with pilots.