Cash runs out at France’s Fonderie de Bretagne as owner Europlasma posts deep losses and shaky accounts

Fonderie de Bretagne, a metal foundry in Caudan in France’s Morbihan department, has run out of cash—raising the risk of an outright liquidation as its owner, Europlasma, reports widening losses and says its 2025 financial statements may not be certifiable.

The Caudan site is barely producing anything, and a much-touted shift into making artillery shells—the official rationale for Europlasma’s takeover—has not materialized. The industrial equipment is shut down, with no firm orders so far, according to Les Echos.

Europlasma, a company based in France’s Landes region that started in pollution cleanup and has pivoted toward defense through a string of acquisitions, published its 2025 results showing revenue rising to €70.4 million (about $76.0 million) even as losses deepened. Net income attributable to the group came in at negative €35.5 million (about -$38.3 million).

Auditors may be unable to certify Europlasma’s 2025 accounts

The situation has deteriorated enough that Europlasma acknowledged in a financial statement that its statutory auditors are expected to be “in the impossibility of certifying the annual and consolidated accounts for the fiscal year.” The wording is unusual—and a red flag that the company is failing basic accounting standards.

For workers in Caudan, the warning is immediate. A straightforward liquidation of the foundry is no longer a theoretical scenario. Under the original plan, the plant was supposed to be sold as part of the group’s military-related activities—but a sale requires a buyer, and a buyer typically requires clear, readable accounts.

A promised €3 million never arrived by the end of 2025

Europlasma had until December 31, 2025, to inject €3 million (about $3.2 million) into the foundry. The money never came. That has left the group as the sole backer of Fonderie de Bretagne, after funds that were supposed to be delivered via a trust arrangement were not paid on time.

In a statement published in January 2026, Europlasma said its financing timetable had been built on assumptions set when it filed its takeover bid in April 2025. Those assumptions no longer hold. Government support, meanwhile, was never formalized: a ministerial order referenced in Article 2 of the July 15, 1960 decree was not published, blocking any public disbursement.

Source : Les Echos Comfi / Europlasma

Pourquoi la reconversion défense de Caudan a calé

Risque de liquidation

Workers in Caudan fear the company could disappear entirely, in a context where no sale process is officially underway.

Trésorerie épuisée

Europlasma is financing the foundry alone after the failed payment via the trust, with no formalized public support.

Reconversion défense en échec

The shift to shell manufacturing is stalled, with no firm orders, despite Europe’s rearmament push.

Comptes non certifiables

Europlasma says its auditors will be unable to certify the company’s 2025 annual and consolidated accounts.

Enjeu social morbihannais

Several hundred employees are affected in an industrial job market where alternatives remain scarce.

The artillery-shell pivot has stalled, with no firm orders

Purchased amid Europe’s broader rearmament drive, the Caudan foundry was supposed to switch into munitions production. The pitch was straightforward: France was accelerating defense procurement, the Breton plant had metalworking know-how, and the buyer presented itself as an industrial linchpin for the supply chain.

By 2026, the picture is far bleaker. Production is stopped. No firm order has been confirmed. The conversion never happened, and cash dried up before a first shell ever left the factory.

There was a brief note of optimism early in 2026 from management, tied to discussions about refinancing the group through the arrival of investment funds, according to Fabrice Loher relaying comments from Jérôme Garnache. That optimism did not translate into cash being paid in.

Caudan becomes a fragile symbol of France’s defense reindustrialization push

The Fonderie de Bretagne saga fits a broader pattern in France: industrial sites bought in haste to meet defense needs, while public and private financing fails to arrive on the promised schedule. The Caudan foundry employs several hundred people in Morbihan, in an industrial region where job alternatives are limited.

The liquidation risk raised by employees is not only a local labor issue. It also tests how quickly France’s defense industrial base can absorb and repurpose existing factories when administrative timelines and order approvals drag on.

Europlasma is listed on Euronext Access Paris under the ticker ALEUP. Shareholders are awaiting a sale of Fonderie de Bretagne alongside the group’s military activities, but no date and no buyer have been publicly announced so far.