Saft announces a drop in overall year-on-year sales figures based on the first quarter of 2012. The figure for the first quarter of 2013 shows sales at €133.5 million compared with €136.8 million the previous year.
Despite this slight drop, the company has seen growth in several areas. Chairman of the Management Board, John Searle, said, “Sales in the transportation markets have grown strongly and important breakthroughs have been achieved in the telecom back-up power market for our new range of lithium-ion batteries. These positive trends are expected to continue. Progress in the energy storage market has been slower than anticipated due to the time taken to conclude a number of key contracts.”
Searle cited cautious customers in the short cycle civil electronics market as a possible reason for decline in the specialty battery group sector, which saw a decrease in sales of 8.8%, totaling €58.9 million for the quarter.
The industrial battery sector saw a year on year growth in sales of 3.2% to €74.6 million. Transportation sales grew by 8%, this was boosted by strong sales of lithium-ion batteries to the military for aviation purposes.
Sales of nickel batteries to US telecom operators saw the stationary back-up power markets increase by 2.3%, however the company reported flat sales of small nickel batteries due to an ongoing mandatory consultation process.