By Victor Goury-Laffont
(Reuters) -Belgium's Umicore said on Tuesday it had cut its net capital expenditure target for 2026 after receiving grants including C$1 billion ($734.05 million) from the Canadian government to build a battery materials plant.
Umicore expects total net capital expenditure between 2022 and 2026 to reach 3.8 billion euros ($4.01 billion). The group had previously said it planned to carry out phased investments of around 5 billion euros between 2022-2026.
In a call with analysts, the company said the difference between the two figures was a result of taking into account secured government grants and investments in its joint venture with German automaker Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p).
Analysts at brokerage Jefferies said the difference does not necessarily mean a drop in overall gross capex spending.
Shares in Umicore were up more than 17% on the Brussels stock exchange at 0810 GMT, their biggest one-day increase in more than three decades and topping the pan-European STOXX 600 index.
Umicore also announced a new target for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins, which they expect to be above 25% from 2026. It had previously said it expected yearly EBITDA margins above 20% up until 2030.
The company's new battery components plant in Eastern Canada will receive up to C$1 billion in funding from the federal government and the Ontario provincial government.
The new plant, based in the town of Loyalist, Ontario, will manufacture cathode active materials used in lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles.
Production at the plant, which Umicore says will represent a 1.27 billion euro investment, is set to start in 2026, it said on Monday.
($1 = 0.9485 euros)
($1 = 1.3623 Canadian dollars)