SolarWorld AG was able to successfully expand its business in the third quarter of 2010.
Shipments of wafers and solar modules went up by 53 percent to 191 (Q3 2009: 125) MW. In spite of the industry-wide price decline, the group was able to expand its revenue. This rose in the third quarter of 2010 by 44.6 percent to € 337.4 (Q3 2009: € 233.4) million. EBIT amounted to € 51.4 million in the third quarter. This is an increase of 41.9 percent in comparison with the third quarter of 2009 (€ 36.2 million). The EBIT margin was almost constant at 15.2 (Q3 2009: 15.5) percent. The after-tax profit rose in the third quarter of 2010 by € 2.1 million to € 18.1 (Q3 2009: € 16.0) million.
In comparison with the first nine months of 2009 (364 MW), the company boosted its shipments by 56 percent to 568 MW. This increase is partly due to politically motivated pull-in effects in Germany in the first half of 2010, which made themselves felt particularly strongly at the end of the second quarter. Revenue also increased vigorously in the first nine months of 2010 in comparison with the prior-year period by 48.5 percent and € 309.1 million to € 945.8 (Q1-Q3 2009: € 636.7) million. EBIT in the first three quarters amounted to € 132.5 (Q1-Q3 2009: € 119.5) million, an increase of 10.9 percent and € 13.0 million. In the first nine months of 2010, EBIT margin ran to 14.0 percent. After-tax profit in the first nine months of 2010 amounted to € 52.9 (Q1-Q3 2009: € 67.7) million.
“We have successfully used the growth in the international solar markets to strengthen our market positioning as a high quality manufacturer and to increase our shipments,” says Dr.-Ing. E.h. Frank Asbeck, chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. This growth in shipments was driven by the strong German market, but also internationally SolarWorld was able to increase its sales significantly. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Frank Asbeck, “Our production capacities were fully utilized in the past nine months, which is why we continue to expand them. SolarWorld is prepared for the future.“ The expansion is proceeding according to schedule at all locations. In the first half of 2011, the mass production in the new module manufacturing facility SolarFactory III at the German location in Freiberg is to be ramped up. At the U.S. production site in Hillsboro, the first modules have come off the production line in early September. The ramp-up phase will now follow.
For its sustainable power of growth, SolarWorld AG has recently been honored for the second time with the “Sustained Excellence Award” of the Deloitte management consultancy. This prize is awarded to companies that are characterized both by their long-term growth record and by their innovative capabilities and their financial performance. “We are also standing our ground in the tougher competition of the international solar markets because we are consistently cutting our costs along the complete value chain, increasing our quality and sustainably expanding our market share,” declares Philipp Koecke, CFO of SolarWorld AG. “The Sustained Excellence Award confirms our successful international growth strategy.“
About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld AG Group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems of all sizes, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. The group´s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. State of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
Contact SolarWorld AG
Press: Tel.-No.: 0228/55920-400, E-Mail: press@solarworld.de
Investor Relations: Tel.-No.: 0228/55920-470; Fax-No.: 0228/55920-9470,
E-Mail: placement@solarworld.de
Internet: www.solarworld.de
