Champagne, cookies and green coats
Roche Bobois, Vranken Pommery, Greencoat Renewables, Vetoquinol, Exail Technologies, Deutsche Telekom, Robertet, VusionGroup, Virbac, Dassault Aviation, Gamma Communications, Forsee Power
At Lux Opes, we break down the latest company news into quick takes that get straight to the point—what happened, why it matters, and what to watch next.
We publish 2-4 times per week, depending on the news flow.
Roche Bobois (RBO France): Steady margins underline resilience in softer market
Roche Bobois delivered H1 results broadly in line with market expectations, with sales up slightly to €206m and EBITDA stable at €37m. Despite sluggish demand in parts of the market, the group’s gross margin improved by more than a ppt to 61.6%, helped by supplier renegotiations and an ongoing emphasis on pricing discipline. Operating profit held at €12m, leaving margins broadly flat, while net income slipped as financing costs and tax weighed. Even so, the balance sheet remained solid, with net cash of nearly €18m at mid-year, and free cash flow positive despite seasonality.
The company has managed to navigate a tougher consumer environment with surprising resilience. The key has been maintaining profitability even as volumes stagnate, particularly in Europe and the US, where high-end positioning continues to support pricing. Momentum picked up in July and August, with directly operated stores posting small gains, though franchise sales were marginally lower.
With the US still facing tariff headwinds, management introduced price hikes earlier this year to cushion the impact. That backdrop keeps guidance unchanged for stable revenue and EBITDA through 2025, with an expectation of softer seasonality in the second half.
Roche Bobois retains a strong base to build on. Its positioning at the upper end of the furniture and lifestyle space gives it both pricing power and brand resilience that most peers lack. Expansion in China remains a medium-term growth driver, offering scope to diversify further beyond Europe and North America.
While current macro uncertainty makes near-term revenue growth elusive, the group’s fundamentals—solid margins, healthy cash, and a lean operating model—suggest it can keep generating value.
Vranken Pommery (VRAP France): Debt pressures weigh as champagne group looks to H2 rebound
Vranken Pommery’s interim figures showed a mixed picture: sales were flat at €109m, but operating profit dropped 8%, with margins hit by higher grape costs and a less favorable mix. The champagne and other sparkling business remained profitable, though down slightly year-on-year, while rosé continued to generate small losses. A reduced subsidy contribution also shaved a few million off the operating line. Net income stayed negative, albeit with a narrower loss compared with the prior year, helped by lower financing charges. Debt remains the main concern, rising above €750m mid-year, although part of this reflects inventory build ahead of stronger expected year-end sales.
Management remains confident that the second half will show a marked recovery. Champagne shipments across the sector are slowly picking up, and Vranken expects volumes to grow in 2025, alongside further progress in international markets, particularly Asia. A focus on moving further upmarket should also support profitability, offsetting some of the pressure from raw material inflation.
Cost discipline is a clear theme, with the group signalling tighter control over opex and ongoing asset disposals as part of its debt reduction plan. The announced sale of Heidsieck Monopole, along with land divestments in Camargue, underscores management’s intent to strengthen the balance sheet.
The investment case remains a balancing act between operational recovery and financial constraints. On one side, the order book looks healthier for H2, and the brand strategy—premiumisation and internationalisation—has clear logic. On the other, leverage remains elevated, and execution risk around disposals is high.
Investors are likely to stay cautious until debt comes down more decisively and margins stabilise. For now, Vranken Pommery’s fundamentals look adequate to sustain a gradual turnaround, but the equity story is unlikely to re-rate without clearer visibility on financial discipline.
Greencoat Renewables (GRP Ireland): Weak wind output keeps pressure on near-term returns
Greencoat Renewables’ recent results reflected the challenges of an unusually weak wind environment in Europe. Revenue fell 28% year-on-year, while EBITDA dropped 38%. Cash generation slipped, leaving dividend cover at 1.7x compared to nearly 3x a year earlier. Generation volumes were c. 15% below plan, particularly in Ireland and Germany, while captured merchant prices also disappointed, dragging performance further. Against this backdrop, net asset value edged down 4% to €1.01 per share, with revisions to production assumptions outweighing gains from disposals and CPI-linked adjustments.
Operationally, the group remains disciplined. Disposals in Ireland were executed at a premium to NAV, demonstrating resilience in asset valuations despite market headwinds. Gearing held steady at 52%, with cash balances rising to €141m, supporting the dividend, which continues to offer a yield north of 9% at current levels.
The portfolio’s long-term contracted revenues remain solid, but merchant exposure—roughly a quarter of generation—remains a swing factor, particularly in periods of low wind speeds. Revisions to production assumptions across multiple countries underline the structural volatility the business faces.
The investment case in Greencoat rests on income rather than growth. While H1 showed the vulnerability of the model to weather and prices, the defensive elements remain: disciplined capital allocation, limited leverage, and inflation-linked revenues.
There are no immediate catalysts to narrow the steep discount to NAV, but for income-focused investors, the yield remains compelling. Longer-term, visibility on cash returns is intact, but patience will be required while weather conditions normalise and the merchant environment stabilises.
Vetoquinol (VETO France): Margins surprise positively despite soft top-line
Vetoquinol’s first-half performance underscored the company’s ability to protect profitability even when sales momentum is soft. Reported revenue came in essentially flat on a like-for-like basis, as demand in Europe and the Americas weakened while Asia-Pacific delivered solid growth.
The headline looked uninspiring, but underneath, margins told a different story. The operating margin grew by 160 basis points to over 16%, thanks to stronger pricing, a more favorable product mix, and well-managed opex. Net income also improved modestly, signaling that the group’s strategic focus on essentials and high-value products is paying off.
The main driver of this margin resilience was the performance of the strategic brands, which continue to grow at over 4% at constant currencies and now represent nearly two-thirds of group sales. This mix shift, combined with selective price increases and lower-than-expected marketing spend, supported profitability despite headwinds from the gradual phase-out of non-core products.
By contrast, regional performance was mixed: Europe and North America struggled against tough comparatives and currency effects, while Asia-Pacific delivered a more encouraging growth. Cash flow was temporarily negative, largely due to working capital effects from the integration of Drontal and Profender production, but the balance sheet remains strong with more than €160m of net cash, giving ample room for flexibility.
The picture ahead is one of steady, incremental progress rather than dramatic change. Vetoquinol’s strategy remains focused on shifting more of the portfolio toward its core products, improving gross margins and operational efficiency, and maintaining capacity for bolt-on acquisitions when the right opportunities appear.
Management has not provided explicit guidance, but consensus expects mid-single-digit revenue growth this year, which looks achievable given the pipeline of new products and recovery potential in North America. For now, the company is quietly building momentum through mix improvement and margin expansion, leaving it in a solid position to deliver steady earnings growth over the medium term.
Exail Technologies (EXA France): Strong order momentum sets up margin rebound
Exail’s saw H1 sales climb 35%, though profitability came in a touch lighter than hoped. EBITDA grew 45%, lifting margins to 20%, but the Advanced Technologies division weighed on the mix after a temporary relocation of photonics activities. Navigation and maritime robotics, which now account for more than three-quarters of sales, continued to perform strongly, with margins north of 20% and commercial momentum accelerating. Net profit was modest at €3m after amortisation charges from the IXblue acquisition, while net debt remained stable, leaving financial flexibility intact.
Management kept its full-year guidance unchanged, underlining expectations of stronger margin delivery in the second half. That confidence rests on both seasonal effects — robotics and drones tend to peak in Q4 — and contract milestones, particularly in naval mine countermeasures where large tenders are progressing.
The order book is the real highlight: a record €612m of new business in H1 has pushed backlog to €1.1bn, equivalent to more than two years of sales. This level of visibility is rare in the defence-tech space and gives Exail a strong foundation for sustained growth.
The investment case rests on execution and scale. With more than 90% of the backlog tied to defence, Exail is riding a structural wave of spending, particularly in Europe. The integration of IXblue is largely behind it, and management sees scope to unlock further synergies in both operations and financing.
While short-term earnings were softer than forecast, the long-term trajectory is clear: double-digit growth, expanding margins, and plenty of optionality from additional contracts in mine warfare and advanced robotics. It is a story of operational leverage meeting favourable industry dynamics.
Deutsche Telekom (DTE Germany): Starlink clarifications ease competitive fears
Deutsche Telekom’s share price has been sensitive this year to speculation around satellite competition, particularly following SpaceX’s move to acquire new spectrum for Starlink mobile services.
Recent comments from Elon Musk helped to temper concerns: the service will take years to materialise, requires new hardware, and is positioned more as a complement than a direct rival to terrestrial networks. Technical limitations around speed and indoor penetration mean Starlink is unlikely to be a 5G substitute, at least before the end of the decade. In the near term, partnerships with operators remain the more likely model.
For Deutsche Telekom, this clarity is helpful. T-Mobile US, its crown jewel, stands to benefit as Starlink seeks partners to extend coverage in remote areas, while rivals Verizon and AT&T are tied to AST SpaceMobile, which is years behind in deployment. In Europe, the competitive environment remains the key pressure point, but the risk of satellite disruption has eased significantly.
Management’s stance remains cautious, but Q4 is expected to show an improvement in Germany after a softer summer quarter.
The longer-term question is whether Starlink eventually evolves into a more complete mobile offering, which could pose risks in the 2030s. For now, however, the company’s fundamentals are unchanged: it retains strong positioning in the US, steady cash flow in Europe, and a balance sheet that supports both dividends and investment in fibre and 5G rollout. Investor focus is likely to shift back to execution in Germany and ongoing US momentum rather than external speculation.
Robertet (RBT France): Good momentum but sector headwinds linger
Robertet’s first half of 2025 showed the kind of resilience that has long defined the family-owned fragrance and natural ingredients group. Sales rose to just over €446m, with EBITDA climbing 13% and operating profit up 17%. The operating margin improved nicely to 19.1%, helped by mix effects in Fine Fragrances, where more profitable orders carried through despite a less accommodating cost environment. Net profit grew 13% and the balance sheet remains conservative, with net debt at €121m, leaving the company in a solid financial position heading into the second half of the year.
Management reaffirmed its medium-term path: steady organic growth in the 5–7% range and incremental margin improvement, a strategy underpinned by disciplined market selection and the ongoing expansion of higher-value segments. The trajectory is credible given Robertet’s position at the intersection of natural raw materials sourcing and fine fragrance demand, where it has consistently carved out a niche against much larger competitors.
Still, the company acknowledged that second-half growth will inevitably slow due to base effects, after a particularly strong comparison in 2024.
The challenge remains less about execution and more about the sector backdrop. Consumer sentiment has softened, peers have underperformed, and broader raw material and currency swings have weighed on valuations across the space.
Robertet continues to trade at a discount to larger listed fragrance houses, in part reflecting its smaller free float and less aggressive acquisition strategy. The fundamentals remain healthy, but the near-term equity story is being shaped more by external factors than by company-specific performance.
VusionGroup (VU France): Execution strength drives guidance upgrade
VusionGroup delivered an impressive first half, with revenues up more than 50% and EBITDA rising over 80%. Profitability was the real highlight, with margins expanding by three points to nearly 17%, helped by a growing share of higher-margin value-added services and continued economies of scale. Even with heavy recruitment and higher D&A from new production lines, EBIT more than doubled and free cash flow generation was strong. The group closed June with a robust net cash position of over €500m, giving it enviable balance sheet flexibility as it scales.
Management lifted full-year guidance, now expecting around €1.5bn of sales and margins in the 18% range, well above prior targets. Momentum is especially strong in the US, where the Walmart rollout continues to ramp, but Europe and the Middle East are also showing signs of a return to growth. Importantly, the contribution from services is growing faster than expected, reinforcing the strategic pivot toward a more software- and data-driven model rather than just hardware deployment. The company is proving that the industrial ramp-up with key retail partners can translate into sustainable profitability.
The bigger picture remains one of significant operating leverage and long-term visibility. With contracts like Walmart anchoring its growth profile and a clear trajectory toward €2.2bn in revenue and 22% margins by 2027, VusionGroup is setting itself apart in a sector that has seen both hype and disappointment in equal measure.
While volatility around the share price may persist, the fundamental story has rarely looked stronger, supported by execution that continues to outperform expectations.
Virbac (VIR France): Soft first half but confidence in rebound
Virbac’s recent numbers were weaker than hoped, with operating profit down 10% and margins compressed by more than three points. Net income fell 13% and cash generation was negative, weighed by working capital and a temporary halt at one of its production sites.
On the face of it, the first half looked lacklustre, but much of the weakness was linked to one-offs: higher than usual inventory write-offs, opex phasing skewed into H1, and maintenance downtime. Management was quick to stress that these are timing effects rather than structural issues.
The company left its full-year guidance unchanged, targeting 4–6% sales growth, EBIT margins near 16%, and a rebound in free cash flow in the second half. That confidence stems from the seasonal skew of its business, where H2 usually carries more weight, and from a pipeline that remains active. The shift toward more strategic and higher-margin products continues, supported by incremental R&D spend. The balance sheet remains sound, with debt falling compared with last year, leaving Virbac flexibility to pursue bolt-on acquisitions if opportunities arise.
Virbac still has an attractive long-term growth profile, especially when compared with larger listed peers. While competitive intensity in animal health remains high, its positioning in companion animals and emerging markets gives it differentiated growth drivers.
The stock trades at a notable discount to global peers, reflecting caution around execution, but with guidance intact and H2 set to benefit from seasonality, the stage is set for a recovery in profitability and renewed investor confidence, IF the company delivers.
Dassault Aviation (AM France): India edges closer to a game-changing Rafale deal
Dassault Aviation may be on the verge of securing one of the largest contracts in its history, with India moving closer to final approval for the purchase of 114 Rafale F4 jets. At nearly €19 billion, this would be a transformative deal for Dassault.
Crucially, the plan involves more than just deliveries — over 60% of the production would take place locally. For Dassault, this means going beyond exports into full-scale industrial collaboration. The implications for the Rafale program are profound. Today, Rafale represents only a small fraction of India’s air fleet, but a domestic assembly line would change the scale entirely, boosting production capacity and extending the aircraft’s growth trajectory well into the next decade.
While local production requirements mean Dassault must share more technology than usual, the upside is clear: political acceptance in India, a stronger industrial footprint, and the potential to turn India into a springboard for wider Asian exports. With groundwork already laid with Indian partners, the move also signals Dassault’s willingness to adapt to new models of collaboration in order to win big-ticket deals.
That said, the company still faces a mixed outlook across its divisions. The military side is enjoying strong momentum with a record backlog, and the Indian deal would only reinforce that base. On the civil side, however, the Falcon business has yet to fully regain its stride, and visibility remains patchy despite signs of stabilization.
Dassault thus finds itself in a dual position: highly attractive as a defence powerhouse but still challenged in business aviation. The potential Indian contract, if finalized, could tilt that balance decisively, setting the group on a larger, more global trajectory in military aerospace.
Gamma Communications (GAMA UK): searching for growth in a tougher market
Gamma’s share price has been under heavy pressure, down more than 40% over the past year, as investors lose patience with slowing organic growth and question the payoff of its expansion strategy. Once viewed as a reliable growth stock, Gamma has struggled to keep its UK business expanding at previous rates.
The first half of 2025 underlined this challenge, with UK sales growth slowing to just 2%, compared to mid- to high-single-digit growth in prior years. The company points to broader macro weakness as a drag, but product and competitive pressures — from declining SIP trunk lines to aggressive competition in connectivity and cloud services — are also weighing.
The acquisition-led push into Germany was meant to reset the growth narrative, but near-term benefits remain uncertain. Gamma is betting that the German market, which lags in cloud telephony adoption, will eventually offer an attractive runway. For now, however, the timing of that inflection is unclear, leaving investors questioning whether the capital deployed could have been better spent elsewhere. The UK slowdown has therefore dominated the investment debate, with competitors like BT enjoying stronger momentum in the meantime.
Despite these challenges, Gamma continues to stand out for its tight cost control and operational discipline. The company has managed to preserve margins even as the top line wobbles, with EBITDA inching higher in the first half. Management is confident that cost adjustments can sustain earnings growth through 2026, and the shares, now back at multi-year lows, are once again looking less demanding.
The big question is whether Gamma can demonstrate that UK growth has stabilized — without that reassurance, investors are likely to remain cautious, even if the long-term strategy remains intact.
Forsee Power (FORSE France): restructuring into headwinds as demand falters
Forsee Power’s first-half results painted a difficult picture, with revenue slipping and losses deepening as market headwinds intensified. The group, which makes battery systems for electric buses and commercial vehicles, reported sales down 4% year-on-year, while net losses widened significantly. Lower raw material costs provided some relief on margins, but not enough to offset financial pressures and forex effects. The company did manage to bolster its balance sheet with a capital increase, trimming net debt, yet the cash position remains fragile given the scale of upcoming challenges.
The outlook for the second half of 2025 is particularly concerning. Management has already suspended its initial guidance, now expecting revenue to fall as much as 20% for the full year, with profitability turning negative again.
The backdrop is difficult: subsidies are fading, Chinese competition is intensifying, and Forsee’s largest customer, Wrightbus, has moved to dual sourcing, reducing visibility on order volumes. The company has launched a restructuring plan aimed at cutting €20m of costs and is targeting a return to growth by 2027, but near-term prospects remain clouded.
For 2026, expectations have been cut sharply, with revenue projected to fall further before any recovery emerges. While cost savings and tighter capex may provide some breathing room, execution risk is high, and Forsee must navigate a market that is still in flux.
Longer-term, the electrification of heavy transport remains a compelling theme, but Forsee’s path toward capturing that growth looks uncertain. For now, the company finds itself in a holding pattern — restructuring, conserving cash, and waiting for market dynamics to turn in its favor.
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