Semperit

Semperit is one of those quiet old-world industrials nobody talks about: founded 1824, headquartered in Vienna, making rubber and polymer products for industrial and infrastructure customers. Hydraulic and industrial hoses (Industrial Applications segment) and engineered specialty rubber (Engineered Applications — escalator handrails, ski foil, cable car rings, railway profiles) generate 677 million euros revenue.

The market hates it because Semperit just exited the medical-glove business (Sempermed sold in 2024 after the COVID glut killed prices), and trailing earnings collapsed to nearly zero due to restructuring charges. But trailing earnings hide the picture: the remaining industrial businesses generate stable EBITDA, the balance sheet is now net-cash after the glove-disposal proceeds, and the company is back to paying a 3.3 percent dividend.

B&C Industrieholding (Vienna-based industrial holding) controls roughly 54 percent — controlling shareholder dynamic. No major hedge-fund 13F whale. The Austrian institutional ownership and free float are small, making this an illiquid Vienna-Stock-Exchange micro-cap.

At 15 EUR the trailing P/E is meaningless (post-restructuring 750x). Forward P/E 11.4 on normalized earnings, P/B 0.73, EV/EBITDA 2.3 (extremely low — partly reflecting net cash position). Replacement value of the industrial-rubber book is well above current market cap.

1. :
2. :
3. :

Semperit is the kind of obscure European industrial I love for a deep-value sleeve. Net cash, 3.3 percent dividend, replacement-value-below-book — and a controlling shareholder with track record of value-creating actions. The risk is illiquidity and cyclical demand; the reward is multiple expansion and possible capital return. I would size 0.5 to 1 percent — small enough that Vienna-listing liquidity is manageable.