ELLWANGEN (dpa-AFX) - The company boss of struggling battery maker Varta sees signs of a slight recovery. "In July and August, there were slightly rising customer forecasts for the first time since I've been here," board spokesman Markus Hackstein told the Handelsblatt newspaper (Monday edition). "We don't know yet whether that will be sustained," said the manager, who took over the post just over a year ago. He added that the economic forecasts were rather gloomy overall. But in the second half of the year, the company generally generates two-thirds of its sales. In any case, he said, it will be much better than the first half of the year.

Concerns about low-cost competition from Asia, a lull in demand due to consumer restraint, and high energy and material costs have hit the company hard. Varta was forced to restructure in the spring and announced the elimination of around 800 jobs worldwide as a result of a savings program. Last year, the company had already incurred a high loss due to high write-offs, among other things.

"We are in the middle of a restructuring process that will accompany us for several more years," said the Varta CEO. This will not happen in a few quarters. He added that the company is very far along in its planned job cuts. This will be completed next year. In Ellwangen, Varta has cut around 90 jobs. In Nordlingen, all temporary jobs have been phased out, and in Indonesia, Varta has reduced its workforce.

On the other hand, however, the company lacked skilled workers. "We have more than 100 open positions," Hackstein said. That's a terrible balancing act between cutting back and building up, he said. The company is in an industry of the future, whether Varta is doing well or not, he said. The stationary home storage business has only really begun, he said. Varta is investing 20 million euros in this area this year.

The goal is to return to a pre-crisis earnings situation and to achieve earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) in excess of 150 million euros. The target for 2023 is 40 to 60 million euros. The bottom line is that Varta will also make a loss this year, he said. The manager did not want to say how high the costs of the restructuring would be./mne/stw/men