ELLWANGEN (dpa-AFX) - The struggling battery group Varta is expecting lower sales than expected due to weak demand. The company announced on Thursday evening in Ellwangen that revenue for the current year is now likely to settle at between 820 and 870 million euros. Previously, the Management Board had at least 900 million euros on the cards. In the first nine months of 2023, Varta generated sales of around 554 million euros; more up-to-date business figures have not been available since then due to a hacker attack. The shares slumped on Friday.

In early trading, the shares lost 9.3 percent to 9.03 euros. In mid-April, Varta shares fell to a record low of 7.43 euros and had only recovered to a limited extent since then. In the current year, Varta has lost far more than half of its value, and over a five-year period the drop is a good 80 percent.

The market environment for energy storage systems has continued to deteriorate significantly, particularly in the second quarter of the current year, according to Varta. In addition to weak global demand, Varta is also losing market share in the domestic market for energy storage systems. Delayed product launches of high-voltage storage systems also had a negative impact on sales development.

The battery group has been in crisis for some time. Demand for small lithium-ion button cells, for example for headphones, is fluctuating strongly. In addition, Varta recently complained about cheap competition from China and ongoing problems in the supply chains. To make matters worse, hackers attacked Varta's computer systems in February and paralyzed production for several weeks.

In mid-April, Varta had to admit that its own restructuring concept was no longer sufficient to return to profitable growth by the end of 2026 as planned. The Group once again called on its financial backers for help - but they are to remain silent for the time being until the expert AuxilPartner has revised the existing restructuring report. The new report should be available by the middle of the year.

Around six weeks ago, the Varta share was also kicked off the SDax, as the audited annual financial report could not be published on time as a result of the hacker attack. In mid-March, the battery company announced that it would not be able to publish the report before April 30 due to the hacker attack that was made public on February 13. Varta is currently aiming to publish its annual report in August./ngu/niw/jkr/jha/