Key insights
- Metlen, a European industrial company, is expanding its aluminum and alumina production, including becoming Europe's first gallium producer. With China controlling 99% of global gallium supply and restricting exports, Metlen's entry into this market could benefit from higher prices. The company is also expanding its renewable energy and battery storage capacity in Southeast Europe, positioning itself to capitalize on the growing demand for energy storage.
Metlen ($MTLN) is a European industrial company (founded in Greece, primary listed on the London Stock Exchange and part of the FTSE 100). They are operating across energy, metals, defence and infrastructure in 40+ countries across 5 continents — with its core operations concentrated across Greece, the UK, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Chile, South Korea and the broader Southeast Europe region.
- Price: €41.50 (52-week range: €30.5 – €57.69) * Market Cap: ~€5.95B * 2025 Revenue: ~€7.1B
Energy
Metlen constructs and operates power plants and is Greece's largest private electricity provider through its subsidiary Protergia (~22% market share). Energy is by far the biggest segment — €~€5.7B in revenue in 2025, roughly 80% of the entire group. They run a 12GW+ renewables pipeline across Europe using an "Asset Rotation" model — selling mature solar/wind assets to fund new builds, essentially recycling capital endlessly. Metlen and PPC (Greece's #1 electricity provider) formed a Joint Venture to develop up to 1.5 GW of battery storage across SE Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Italy) — whoever controls the batteries controls the grid. As SE Europe gets flooded with renewables, storage becomes the most valuable asset in the market, and Metlen is positioning itself right at the center of it. On top of that, they signed a deal with Shell to trade up to 1 bcm of LNG per year from 2027–2031 — making Greece (and Metlen) the main gas entry point into Southeast Europe.
Metals
Metlen runs the only mine-to-metal aluminium operation in the EU — currently producing ~190,000 tonnes of aluminium and ~840,000 tonnes of alumina per year, generating ~€900M in annual revenue at ~5% net margins. By 2028, a €295M expansion bumps alumina to 1.26M tonnes and adds 50 tonnes of gallium per year — Europe's first. China controls ~99% of global gallium supply, has been banning exports, and the price has exploded from $300/kg in 2020 to $2,200/kg today. Metlen doesn't need to build a new mine — they extract it as a byproduct of aluminium refining they're already doing, meaning their production cost is a fraction of what China charges. At $2,200/kg that's ~€100M/year in near-pure margin. Combined with circular metals (recovering scandium and rare earths from mining waste that would otherwise be thrown away), net margins could realistically double from 5% to 10%+ by 2028, turning metals from a side business into a serious profit driver. Their aluminium smelter runs on their own cheap electricity, so every time energy prices drop, metals margins go up — the two businesses literally feed each other.
Infrastructure & Manufacturing (METKA)
METKA is Metlen's construction and infrastructure subsidiary — building roads, railways, ports, hotels, museums and large-scale public projects. It's delivering 87 construction projects across 11 countries, covering solar, energy storage, electricity networks and data centres. Management expects METKA to hit ~€1B in revenue by 2026 while carrying zero net debt. Revenue more than doubled to €567M in 2025, up from €256M in 2024, while EBITDA doubled to €100M. In Q1 2026 alone, revenue nearly doubled again to €177M vs €92M a year earlier, with a total project backlog now exceeding €2.2B — meaning future revenue is already locked in. Recent wins include the Northern Road Axis of Crete highway, a casino and hotel complex in Athens, and the Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki. Currently ~8% of group revenue but growing fast, with the €2.2B backlog suggesting that share grows significantly over the next 2-3 years.
Defence
Metlen's defence arm runs 6 factories in Volos producing armoured vehicles, military structures and defence components — partners include KNDS (battle tanks), IVECO, Lockheed Martin and Naval Group (frigates/submarines). It sits inside the broader metals segment (~€900M revenue in 2025) and isn't broken out, but is estimated in the €50-100M revenue range today — small but doubling in 2026, and the company originally committed to 5 factories by 2028-2030 and already has 6, ahead of schedule. With Europe's rearmament wave accelerating and NATO members rushing to rebuild stockpiles, Metlen is one of the very few manufacturers on the continent capable of scaling fast. Smallest segment today, but growing faster than anything else in the group.
Risks
The stock is down ~30% from its LSE listing price for real reasons. Net debt stands at ~€2.1B with a Net Debt/EBITDA ratio of 3.1x — high, and largely a result of aggressive investment across all four segments simultaneously (new defence factories, the €295M gallium plant, battery storage, renewables expansion). On top of that, 2025 EBITDA dropped 30% due to a costly project blowup in their UK power construction division, which hit earnings hard. Net profit nearly halved from €615M to €314M year-on-year. The bull case depends on EBITDA bouncing back to €1B+ in 2026 and hitting €2B medium-term. If execution slips again, the debt load becomes a real problem.
Founder Evangelos Mytilineos (~21.5% stake), along with other insiders, has spent roughly €20M buying shares and continues to buy on every dip.
The Greek government has been openly backing Metlen — PM Mitsotakis personally visited the Volos defence hub, the gallium project was approved as a Strategic Investment with €118M in grants and tax incentives, and multiple projects have been fast-tracked under Greece's Strategic Investments Law. Greece's current government shows no signs of losing power anytime soon, meaning Metlen's political tailwinds aren't going anywhere.
2025 metrics:
- Revenue: €7.11 billion * EBITDA: €753 million (down 30% YoY due to one-off project losses) * Net Profit: €314 million * EPS: €2.20 * P/E Ratio: ~18.9x (on reported EPS) * P/Book: ~1.97x * Enterprise Value (EV): €8.4 billion * EV / EBITDA: ~11.2x * Net Margin: 4.4% * ROE: 10.4–10.5% * Dividend: €1.00 per share (~2.4% yield) * Adjusted Net Debt: €2.10 billion (Net Debt/EBITDA ratio: 3.1x) * Market Cap (31 Dec 2025): ~€6.3 billion
Management 2030 Projection:
Management has set a clear target of €2B in EBITDA by ~2028— roughly 2.7x today's level. The path there: energy doubles its renewables pipeline, Protergia hits 30% electricity market share, METKA reaches €1B in revenue across 11 countries, gallium kicks in ~€100M in near-pure margin, and defence targets €150M in EBITDA alone. 2026 is the key checkpoint — management is guiding for €1.0–1.15B EBITDA this year. If they hit it, the €2B target looks very credible. If they miss again, the story gets harder to defend.
Links:
https://rare-earth-mining.com/top-10-gallium-uses/
https://www.canadianminingreport.com/blog/aluminum-prices-near-record-high-what-s-fueling-the-rally