Green Energy Technology Inc (GET), a Taiwanese solar Si-wafer maker under the corporate umbrella of Tatung Group, on July 15 announced the following material information. Because of the struggling local solar energy industry and GET's deteriorated financial situation, the company will lay off 284 of its workers to save the costs of human resources and operations. The decision was made in accordance with the resolutions of the meeting of the board of directors, and complies with local labor rules.
According to GET, without the creditor banks' credit extension, the debt-ridden firm cannot operate continually as it copes with difficulties in the Taiwanese solar industry.
GET stated that solar product prices have dramatically dropped because of the trade barriers amid China, the US and India and the implementation of China's 531 New Policy. With the continuously falling prices, manufacturers in the supply chain are hardly able to recover their capacity utilization rates.
Taiwanese manufacturers like E-ton solar, Motech, and TSEC have already begun to reduce their capacities as they seek to transform their business models and decrease the number of labor workers. Since the implementation of China's 531 new policy, more than 6,000 people have been laid off in the PV industry.
After the global solar industry's structure was changed, the production costs of GET's polysilicon wafers are no longer competitive in the market, and the selling prices are far below costs. Therefore, the company is not able to generate a positive cash flow, and the firm has lost money continuously. According to the company's assessment, there is no need to continue running its unprofitable operations.
Because of GET's financial crisis in 2018, it laid off hundreds of employees and paid them severance fees in 2018. In March 2019, GET's net value per share turned negative. Then GET was delisted on May 2. Tatung announced on July 15 that it would hold a press conference of material information at 7pm, and its subsidiary company (GET)'s board of directors would hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on August 30, in order to discuss how to dissolve and liquidate the company and carry out the decision according to the laws.
GET will file to rescind the qualification of public stock offering to the Securities & Futures Bureau of Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).
(Collaborative media: TechNews; Photo credit: GET's official website)