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The electric vehicle charging supplier, backed by EDF and Legal & General, warned that weak retail demand for EVs in the UK would hit annual profits, sending its share price down nearly 40% on Monday morning.
Pod Point, which is majority-owned by EDF and whose shareholders include Legal & General, Schroders and Hargreaves Lansdown, said on Monday it was facing a “difficult background” including “short-term uncertainty” in the UK EV market. ” was said to be the cause. The company expected its annual results to be lower than current market expectations.
The company said the government consultation launched late last year on UK EV sales targets had increased its uncertainty. The talks followed complaints from automakers that electric vehicle sales were not growing fast enough to meet quotas.
Britain’s EV quota scheme, also launched last year, requires 80% of car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by the end of 2010, up from 22% in 2024.
New EV registrations rose 21% last year to a record 382,000, making the UK narrowly overtaking Germany for the first time to become Europe’s largest battery-powered vehicle market.
But discounts on EVs to lure customers reluctant to switch from petrol cars cost carmakers billions of pounds. The Society of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) trade group also warned that demand was not growing “in line with expectations”.
SMMT has warned that retail buyer sales are relatively weak compared to businesses, with its analysis suggesting that only one in 10 UK retail buyers will choose EV in 2024. It’s only people.
Pod Point said on Monday that “ongoing weakness in the private new vehicle sector of the EV market” was impacting trading. As a result, the group announced that its revenue for the latest financial year is now expected to be £53m, lower than its previous forecast of around £60m.
It added that net cash had fallen to £5.3m at the end of December, significantly below its previous guidance of around £15m.
Melanie Lane, CEO of Pod Point, who previously worked at Shell, said the company had made “good progress cost-wise” in 2024, but that “a weaker-than-expected private EV market was contributing to profitability.” It’s having a negative impact.” The company plans to announce full-year financial results in April.
Shares fell more than 38% in early trade to 10.30p. The company was listed in London in November 2021.
Pod Point sells charging devices for home and work use. In its latest results, covering the six months to the end of June, the group reported sales of £28.1m and said it had 242,000 devices installed across the UK.
Experts say motorists’ concerns about a lack of charging points and the high initial costs of many EV models are among the factors holding back the transition in the UK.
In a statement this morning, Pod Point added that EDF remains a “very supportive shareholder”.
Additional report by Kana Inagaki
