Fonderie de Bretagne in liquidation, Forges de Tarbes in recovery, Valdunes is looking for a buyer... The continuation of Europlasma's activities threatened "in the short term"

The buyer of industrial sites in difficulty Europlasma "faces cash flow difficulties threatening in the short term the continuity of its operations", that is to say the continuation of its activities, it warned this Friday, October 30, publishing new poor financial results, this time for the first half of 2026. The company, known for having taken over the Fonderie de Bretagne, now in liquidation, the Forges de Tarbes, in receivership, or even Valdunes, in search of a buyer, made a net loss of 27.6 million euros in the first half of 2026, for a turnover of 22.3 million euros. Over the same period of 2025, the group had already made a net loss of 27 million euros for 32.9 million euros in turnover.

Justice seized In the meantime, its Ebitda, a profitability indicator, collapsed, going from -10.9 to -21.1 million euros. Europlasma explains this by "taking into account the fixed costs" of Fonderie de Bretagne "over the entire half-year, compared to only two months over the same period of the previous financial year, especially in a context of stopping production" caused by a fire. In addition, it experienced "raw material supply constraints which slowed down the production of train wheels at Valdunes Industries" and "declining production and an increase in the scrap rate of hollow bodies at the Forges de Tarbes".

The group has taken restructuring measures which "should make it possible to resolve the current cash flow difficulties and ensure operational continuity over the next twelve months", but it warns in its press release on Friday that "several assumptions in the cash flow forecasts are uncertain to date, in particular, in the event of unfavorable market conditions". It announced in April its desire to sell its defense activities and said it was in discussions with "a French industrialist", but indicated in mid-October that the discussions "did not make it possible to conclude a definitive agreement". On this occasion, the group said it was "at the disposal of the competent authorities", after the revelation in the press of the referral to justice by the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA).

The latter wanted to report “recent management decisions of the company which seem to have precipitated the rapid deterioration” of its financial situation.

Machine-translated from French