Bulgarian Car Battery Maker MonBat Misses Q3, 9-mo Sale, Profit Targets on Low Lead Prices

“The targets were missed due to the sharp decline in lead prices, which caused a drop in the sale price of our products,” the company said in a statement. The yearly targets, however, remain unchanged, it added.

The company reported third-quarter sales of 41.7 million levs ($26.5 million/21.3 million euro) versus a target of 43.5 million levs. Third-quarter pre-tax profit totalled 7.9 million levs, lower than the company's 8.7 million lev forecast.

MonBat was also just short of its nine-month sale target of 137 million levs, posting 135.16 million levs instead, which was up 59.15% on the year. The January-September pre-tax profit was up 87.33% on the year to 23.3 million levs, just off the target of 24 million levs.

In September alone the company raised its net sales revenue by 14.43% to 14.62 million levs and its pre-tax profit was 2.58 million levs, up 11.9% year-on-year, MonBat said.

Exports generate about 85% of MonBat's revenue. The company's foreign markets include Germany, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia.

Shares of MonBat, part of the benchmark SOFIX index, fell 5.7% to 5.8 levs on the Sofia bourse on Monday with over 61,000 company stocks changing hands. The statement was released after the end of bourse trading.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)