Carmat shares were down sharply on the Paris Bourse on Monday, after the artificial heart manufacturer announced a further capital increase of €50 million and reported sales below target for the year.

On the Paris Bourse, at around 10:55 GMT, Carmat shares were down 6.1% at 4.92 euros, compared with a 0.21% decline for the CAC 40 index.

Carmat's sales for 2023 came in at 2.8 million euros, well below the range of 4.6 to 6.6 million euros previously announced by the group. Carmat also announced that it expects sales of 14 to 20 million euros in 2024.

Portzamparc and Degroof Petercam acknowledge that Carmat's sales are below expectations, but point to the reassuring pace of new implants, at one per week in the fourth quarter.

This is a "very good signal that the company's scale-up issues are being resolved", says Portzamparc.

Carmat's sales target for 2024 is higher than Portzamparc's estimate of €9 million, which already includes the €50 million capital increase. Portzamparc estimates the issue price at 5.77 euros per share.

Degroof Petercam states that the 2024 target is in line with its estimate of 15 million euros, adding that Carmat's short-term objective is clearly to extend its financial visibility.

In October, the group carried out a capital increase of seven million euros with several of its historical financial shareholders, to provide sufficient liquidity to pursue its activities.

Last month, it announced the commissioning of a second production building at Bois-d'Arcy (Yvelines), which should enable it to reach its production capacity target of 500 hearts per year by early 2024.

Carmat hopes to break even in 2027.

(Written by Augustin Turpin, with contributions from Michal Aleksandrowicz, edited by Blandine Hénault)