The Scale Index continues to tread water, but many Scale members are performing well. So well, in fact, that they are being taken over, such as Vectron. Pantaflix, The Platform Group, Advanced Blockchain and the Veganz Group are also posting strong share price gains.
18 June 2024. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). And yet another successful Scale member is being acquired: The POS system provider Vectron (DE000A0KEXC7) is being taken over by the Shift4 group of companies, as has been clear since last Friday. Vectron - known to many from bakeries - had already announced the conclusion of a "Business Combination Agreement" with the US company specializing in integrated payment and retail technology at the beginning of June. The Vectron share jumped to the takeover price of 10.50 euros following the announcement of the offer. At the beginning of the year it was still 5.78 euros, at the beginning of 2023 4.00 euros. The downer: the takeover will also lead to the end of Vectron's stock market listing.
The former Scale member EQS Group had already been taken over by Pineapple German Bidco GmbH, which is backed by US financial investor Thoma Bravo. As a leading provider of investor communications and one of the market leaders for digital whistleblower systems, EQS Group had benefited greatly from the new whistleblower regulations.
More than doubling in price
Overall, however, the second and third tiers are still struggling: at 1,174 points, the Scale All Share is currently at around the same level as at the beginning of the year - and well below the highs from 2021 of over 1,900 points. The top performers in the Scale segment over the past twelve months are Vectron Systems and - despite recent losses - the film production company Pantaflix (DE000A12UPJ7). Both have more than doubled in price since June 2023. Software company for platform solutions The Platform Group (DE000A2QEFA1), blockchain and Web3 investor Advanced Blockchain (DE000A0M93V6) and vegan food provider Veganz Group (DE000A3E5ED2) have also performed well over the past twelve months, with share price gains of between 66% and 97%.
Formycon: bottomed out?
Formycon (DE000A1EWVY8), the developer of biopharmaceutical follow-on products ("biosimilars"), has recently recovered somewhat from the significant price losses since the beginning of 2023. After a low below 38 euros, the share is now back at 46 euros. Formycon delivered good figures for the first quarter. Formycon is also starting the clinical program for the biosimilar candidate FYB206 against lung cancer.
The analyst firm First Berlin considers the share to be far too cheap, advises buying in and names a price target of EUR 80. The share price decline of more than 40 percent since the beginning of 2023 is due to lower license income from the Lucentis biosimilar FYB201 - the first drug launched by Formycon. However, FYB201 is only one of six biosimilars to be launched by the end of this decade. First Berlin expects Formycon to generate triple-digit license fees from FYB202 ("Stelara") as early as 2026. "The current share price weakness is an opportunity to acquire Formycon shares at a favorable price ahead of the lucrative market launch of FYB202."
Mensch und Maschine reports record quarter
Mensch und Maschine (M+M), provider of CAD/CAM software (Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing), reported the strongest quarter in the company's history. In the first quarter of 2024, the all-time record profit from the first quarter of 2023 was surpassed. In fall 2022, the share price fell to below EUR 42, but has since returned to EUR 55.80. SMC Research speaks of a "surprisingly strong" start to the new financial year. The targets for the year as a whole have been confirmed and the outlook is also good. The analysts continue to see the price target at 69 euros and continue to rate the share as a "strong buy".
Further share price losses for Cliq
By contrast, Cliq Digital, like Formycon and M+M one of the sales leaders in the Scale segment, saw its share price continue to fall. Doubts had arisen about the Düsseldorf-based streaming provider's business model, and at the beginning of May Cliq reported a significant decline in turnover and EBITDA in the first quarter. The share price halved to 8 euros within a short period of time and is currently only 7 euros. Cliq was long regarded as a shooting star, with the share price rising from around EUR 2 in summer 2019 to EUR 39 in April 2022. In the Scale segment, Cliq is still one of the laggards in terms of share price performance over a twelve-month period, alongside the insolvent Helma Eigenheimbau (DE000A0EQ578) and the financial investor for commercial real estate Publity (DE0006972508).
The most heavily traded Scale shares on Xetra and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in May were Cliq Digital (EUR 11.5 million), Formycon (EUR 10.9 million), 2G Energy (EUR 10.6 million), Deutsche Rohstoff and Mensch und Maschine (EUR 8.2 million each) and Data Group (EUR 8 million). These six shares have also had the highest turnover since the beginning of the year, but in a slightly different order: the leader 2G is followed by Cliq, Formycon, Datagroup, Deutsche Rohstoff and Mensch und Maschine.
New name: Verve SE instead of Media and Games Invest
Scale member Media and Games Invest SE has become Verve SE, while the ISIN (SE0018538068) remains the same. The renaming was decided at the Annual General Meeting last Thursday. The former games group has now become an advertising platform operator. Rigsave (IT0005526295) has been suspended from trading since May 27.
Analysis company/bank | Scale companies | Recommendation | Target price in euros | Current price in euros |
SMC-Research | Beta Systems Software | Buy | 36,60 | 28,20 |
GBC | Deutsche Grundstücksauktionen | Buy | 12,75 | 9,00 |
SMC-Research | Daldrup & Söhne | Buy | 10,50 | 8,40 |
SMC Research | 2G Energy | Buy | 34,00 | 23,95 |
GSC Research | Scherzer | Buy | 3,00 | 2,24 |
Warburg Research | Blue Cap | Buy | 32,00 | 20,00 |
By Anna-Maria Borse © 18 June 2024, Deutsche Börse AG
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Anna-Maria Borse is a financial and business editor specializing in the financial market/stock exchange and economic topics.
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