Banner posts positive financial performance whilst announcing Agenda 2030 strategy

Date: Thursday 22 July 2021

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Leading European battery and battery accessories manufacturer, Banner, has posted positive financial performance figures despite the challenges experienced during its 2020/21 FY (1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021).

Having witnessed a two percent increase in sales revenue standing at EUR 270 million with the sale of over 4.1 million starter batteries, Banner has chosen to simultaneously launch Agenda 2030, a corporate development strategy set up to help shape the company’s future in an ever-changing landscape. And one where the importance of the aftermarket will play an increasingly significant role.

Banner’s Commercial CEO, Andreas Bawart, explains:

“Starter batteries will continue to constitute the core business area of Banner with the two biggest sectors being original equipment and the aftermarket. However whilst we predict that the IPO business will experience a decline, the aftermarket will grow strongly.”

So it’s good news for Banner here in the UK, with Country Manager, Lee Quinney echoing Bawart’s sentiments.

“The Banner brand continues to gain increasing acceptance here in the UK and given that recent industry surveys all point to the likelihood of lead acid batteries experiencing high growth performance over the next decade due to the important role they will lay in helping deliver a decarbonised future, the landscape is a positive one. Market analysts Avicenne Energy, for example, are predicting the lead battery market will increase by 61,000 MWh between 2025 and 2030,” he states.

As Bawart continues: “2020/21 was characterised by radical global changes and sizeable challenges. Nevertheless, despite facing a difficult economic environment, the Banner Group was able to attain a notable increase in both sales volumes and revenue. In addition, at the end of 2020, the company received a major order from North America with an overall value of around EUR 60 million. As a result, in the coming years, a total of some 1.5 million lead-acid batteries will be delivered to the USA and Canada.”

Most significantly, and looking to ensure Banner is equipped to meet the challenges facing the automotive industry, whilst also capitalising on future opportunities, Banner has launched its ‘Fit for the future – Agenda 2030’ strategy. Central to this will be Banner’s continued focus on its organisational, production and portfolio strengths, whilst intensifying existing co-operations and opening up new opportunities in Europe, Asia and other overseas markets.

In order to achieve this, Banner has identified three main sales strategies that it will deploy over the next decade:

• Continue a high level of concentration upon top quality AGM, EFB and truck batteries.
• Capitalise on supporting the increasing growth opportunities that prevail in the aftermarket.
• Expand further geographically, with a focus on markets outside of Europe.

Banner was also buoyed in its last financial year by the opening of a new industrial battery production plant in Thalheim bei Wels. Having invested approximately EUR 10 million in the project, Thalheim will considerably boost the development of industrial battery production for both mobile and stationary applications. These will include everything from e-stackers and lifting platforms, self-driving transport systems, golf carts, safety and emergency power supply batteries for hospitals and power plants, signal systems and renewable energy supplies, to electrical wheelchairs, camping, marine and caravan use. Banner’s Thalheim bei Wels operation has a workforce of 25.

As Andreas Bawart concludes:

“Banner intends to further invest in its order-related production, storage and logistics capacity, as well as the digitalisation and automation of its processes. And whilst the advance of e-mobility continues, standard lead-acid batteries still account for 90% of the global battery market and they will continue to be essential for the supply of electrical systems in e-vehicles. It is against this backdrop that Banner remains committed to the systematic development of the traditional starter battery and is already working on its next generation.”

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