Significant negative effect on earnings due to the ongoing decline in prices
•Shipments of solar modules and kits increase to 431 MW
•Group revenue falls below the previous year’s level to € 468.9 million due to ongoing pressure on prices
•Operative earnings are negative at € -189.6 million
•The group expands measures to increase competitiveness
SolarWorld AG increased its groupwide shipments of solar modules and kits in the “Trade” segment in the first three quarters of 2012 by 13.3 percent to 431 (Q1-Q3 2011: 381) MW, but was not able to achieve its revenue goals due to the market distortions. Demand in the private rooftop segment in Germany did not pick up in the third quarter.
Shipments including the external wafer business amounted to 470 (Q1-Q3 2011: 576) MW. The weak demand led to under-utilization of production capacity in Germany and the United States.
The foreign sales quota was 61 (Q1-Q3 2011: 71) percent in the first nine months.
Shipments were not enough to compensate for the roughly 40 percent drop in prices industry wide since the beginning of the year. Thus, the group’s revenue dropped 37.7 percent to € 468.9 (Q1-Q3 2011: € 752.4) million in the first three quarters of 2012. Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) totaled € -189.6 (Q1-Q3 2011: € 89.7) million in the first nine months of the year.
The group expects revenue to be far below the previous year’s level for the entire year of 2012. Earnings before interests and taxes will be significantly negative.
“SolarWorld has demonstrated that it can satisfy its customers in an increasingly difficult environment, but the ongoing price decline and surplus supply have taken their toll,” said Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. “Dumping of Chinese solar manufacturers and illegal subsidies in China are the primary reason. Establishing fair competition in the international solar markets is an important prerequisite for our business development and for the future of the entire solar industry.”
The group expands measures to increase competitiveness
SolarWorld has already taken measures to increase the group’s competitiveness and will now expand them:
•Bringing innovations along the entire solar value chain to German and American production, beginning in the fourth quarter
•Continuously increasing module efficiency by implementing innovations
•Developing further solutions that enable customers to cut their electricity costs by self-consumption
•Additional measures to strengthen the SolarWorld brand
•Entering new solar markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia
•Optimizing internal processes and additional cost cutting by improved procurement, reduction of production costs and savings on staff