Last year was a record year for the privately-owned company, as it generated EUR 270m in sales revenue and EUR 22.6m in profit, selling 2.9 million start batteries and 1.5 million of industrial cells.

The results for last year and this year's first half were announced after Thursday's AGM, which featured representatives of 79% of the capital, and which confirmed the proposal to retain the entire profit from 2017.

The decision is connected with the due diligence that is currently being performed in the company by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of potential investors. It is expected to be concluded by the end of the year.

TAB recently confirmed reports that it is in talks with Metair Investments about a potential strategic tie-up, with director Bogomir Auprih saying today that TAB had received a "sufficiently interesting" non-binding bid from the South African battery maker.

Auprih, who owns a 16% stake in the company, added that the partnership with Metair Investments was connected with the changing situation on the market and in the very production of batteries globally.

TAB earmarks between EUR 10m and EUR 20m a year for investments, which is a relatively small amount compared to big players. The idea is to become a part of a group where TAB would be able to draw from a bigger source of capital, according to Auprih.

He stressed that the demands from TAB included preservation of the existing jobs and brand, and further development of the plants which employ around 900 people in the northern region of Koroška and around 400 people abroad.

Auprih said that the realistic value of TAB would be shown by the due diligence, adding that an estimated market value was around EUR 300m.