Fastned 3Q24 trading update, Gross margin shows pricing power

3Q24 trading update confirmed the trends from 1H24. Sales growth of
44.0% to EUR 21.9m is below our expectation, but gross margin came above
our expectation at 82.6% to EUR 18.1m million. 1H24 GM% stood at 73%. The GM% acceleration should be a relief as competition remains fierce, but their focus on high traffic locations shows pricing power. With 326 operational stations, Fastned is on track for its outlook of 335-350 stations FY24-end. That is just below our 352 expectation. Fastned predicts 420-450 stations by FY25-end vs. our expectation of 417. The 3Q24 presentation zoomed in on the “Places for London” JV with 5 initial sites by FY26 and 20 additional sites by FY27-29. The company repeated its guidance for EBITDA positive for FY24 and EBITDA% > 40% FY25. Conference call at 11h00. For now, we see no reason to change our target price or rating.