Scale market report: “Third tier, but not third class”

Apontis on the brink of farewell

However, the jump in Apontis' share price in October is due to the takeover of the company. The Czech generics manufacturer Zentiva had submitted an offer for the Monheim-based single-pill provider for 10 euros per share. Zentiva has now announced that it has completed the purchase offer. The company now holds just under 84 percent of the share capital and a good 85 percent of the voting rights in Apontis. The stock exchange listing of Apontis shares is to end immediately after completion of the offer. Other well-performing Scale members had already been taken over, such as POS system company Vectron and compliance program provider EQS Group.

TPG: From shoe store to multi-branch platform

The Platform Group (TPG) is itself on a takeover course. The Wiesbaden-based company emerged from a shoe store founded in Hofheim am Taunus in 1882 and is now an online platform provider that “connects stationary, committed retailers with customers”, according to its own description. TPG with CEO Dominick Benner is growing strongly and has recently announced further acquisitions, namely the financial platform FirstWire and the online retailer for luxury watches Chronext. This brings The Platform Group's acquisitions for the current year to nine, eight of which have already been completed, as the company reports. The growth strategy is to be continued in 2025. 

The share had performed very well until June, but has since weakened somewhat and is trading at EUR 7.54 on Monday morning. This still represents an increase of 22 percent since the beginning of the year. The analyst firm First Berlin considers the share price to be far too low and confirms its buy recommendation with a target price of 16 euros. TPG has delivered strong quarterly results, the 44% increase in sales and the five-fold increase in adjusted EBITDA compared to the previous year have exceeded forecasts. The analyst firm Montega also recommends buying the stock, with a target price of 13 euros. “TPG once again impresses with strong figures and is likely to significantly exceed its own annual targets,” it says.

Cantourage: No worries about cannabis phase-out

Things are also going well for medical cannabis provider Cantourage - at least in business terms. Cantourage presented convincing figures for November. The company achieved a monthly turnover of around 7.2 million euros - an increase of 30 percent compared to the previous year. For the year as a whole, the Berlin-based company now expects sales of between 46 and 50 million euros (previously at least 40 million euros) and EBITDA of between 3 and 4 million euros (previously at least 2 million euros). 

Montega then confirmed its buy recommendation and raised its target price to EUR 11.50. This would be more than double the current price of 5.35 euros. “Since April, we have seen an impressive monthly growth rate of 12.3 percent, which illustrates the continued high demand for medical cannabis,” explains the analyst firm. The dynamic is probably due to the increased shift of patients away from the black market towards simplified prescriptions by doctors. According to Montage, Cantourage is probably one of the few profitable companies in the industry internationally. As far as a possible change of government in Germany in February is concerned, Montega is unconcerned: the analysis company does not expect a return to the status quo before 1 April, i.e. before the partial liberalization of cannabis. However, certain restrictions are possible, such as a ban on prescriptions from abroad. The analyst firm NuWays also recommends Cantourage, with a target price of 11.50 euros. 

Verve scores with AI-driven advertising software

The nine-month figures of the Verve Group - formerly Media and Games Invest - are also well received by analysts. GBC speaks of a “dynamic sales and earnings performance”. Mobile in-app advertising and ID-less advertising solutions ensured strong organic growth. The recommendation is “buy”, the target price is EUR 6.70 (currently EUR 3.19). First Berlin takes a similar view: “The nine-month report again showed a strong performance,” it says. First Berlin also recommends buying the share and gives a fair value of 5.50 euros. 

By Anna-Maria Borse © 16 December 2024, Deutsche Börse AG