The Story

Campine is the Belgian dirty-hands money printer. The business is simple but savage — take old lead-acid batteries, melt them down, and sell the reborn metal to the industrial world. From that furnace comes three streams of gold: lead alloys, recycled plastics, and the real prize — antimony trioxide, the white powder that makes up most flame-retardant and PET catalyst formulas.

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When China throttled antimony exports in 2024, the rest of the planet panicked. Prices exploded, competitors folded, and Campine suddenly found itself holding the keys to the kingdom as one of the only non-Chinese suppliers left standing. They answered the call by expanding production capacity over 50%, and now sit at the heart of Europe’s metal independence push. This isn’t a tech startup story — it’s a metal monopoly moment disguised as a recycling firm.

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The Money Machine

Campine is coming off a monster stretch. Fiscal 2024 saw revenue at €365 million and EBITDA pushing €42 million — solid by any yardstick. Then came 2025, and the first half alone ripped through €384 million in revenue with €53 million in EBITDA. That’s not growth; that’s detonation. The antimony shortage created a super-cycle that let them flex operating leverage like never before.

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The balance sheet is clean. Net debt hovers around €15 million — barely a dent — and the dividend remains juicy at €4.50 per share, roughly a 2% yield on current prices. With a market cap floating near €340 million, the company trades at an EV/EBITDA of about 3-4x — bargain bin stuff for a metal recycler in the middle of a global squeeze. Nothing exotic, just the kind of value that makes number-crunchers sweat and traders grin.

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Why It Works (For Now)

Normally, recycling and commodity names are the type of thing you short to stay awake. But this one’s different. Campine lives off a global supply crunch, and until China flips the export switch back on, the company holds the whip hand. Europe needs non-Chinese flame-retardant feedstock, and Campine just happens to own the recipe.

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Sure, it’s not a forever-love business. Once the squeeze fades, margins will deflate, and traders will move on. But in the meantime, this is a textbook friend-shoring alpha play. Think short-term pricing power with real world tailwinds — the kind that make you look like a genius while the trend lasts.

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Catalysts & Chaos

The company just closed the Ecobat France deal on October 1st, giving it new recycling muscle and cross-border flexibility. At the same time, Campine confirmed that ATO imports were exempt from the latest U.S. tariffs, letting them sell freely into a key market while everyone else gets hit with red tape. That’s free margin expansion, baby.

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Management has been open about pushing production harder, and that 50% boost in ATO capacity is already rolling into the numbers. The next scheduled catalysts are the typical rhythm: interim update in September, full-year in March, and annual report in April. Boring cadence, explosive results. The only real threats are feedstock scarcity, substitution experiments, and the occasional EU regulation tantrum. But for now, policy and supply are both blowing in their favor.

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The VHLA Call

This is how small European recyclers turn into mid-cap legends — by being in the right crisis at the right time. Campine has the monopoly vibe, the record books to prove it, and the fresh French footprint to keep feeding the machine. As long as antimony stays tight and tariffs keep everyone else locked out, Campine keeps printing.

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We’re not marrying it — this is a swing-long, not a long-term religion. Buy the blood, sell the euphoria, and keep an eye on China’s export dial. For now, Campine’s the cleanest dirty play in Europe’s metals game. Hold it like a lit match — firm, fast, and ready to drop.

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Not Financial Advice, We Do Not Currently Own Any Stock And Were Not Compensated For This Article.

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