Centrotherm's H1 sales grow, posts loss of EUR 2.6m

Manufacturing equipment supplier Centrotherm International AG (FRA:CTNK) lifted its revenues in the first half of 2018 by roughly 23% year-on-year, to EUR 64.5 million (USD 73.5m), but its loss for the period widened a bit.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were, as expected, at a breakeven level of EUR 70,000, down from EUR 648,000 a year ago, but the after tax result was a loss of EUR 2.58 million, widening from EUR 2.37 million in the first half of 2017.

The revenue target for the year remains unchanged at EUR 110 million-150 million. The company will still aim at a breakeven result at the EBITDA level, despite the difficult market environment in the photovoltaic (PV) industry and the severe price and competitive pressure, Centrotherm said last week.

The Photovoltaics & Semiconductor division reported an operating loss of EUR 3.5 million in the first half.

Order intake in the six months plunged to EUR 37.7 million from EUR 106.8 million a year ago even as the semiconductor and microelectronics industries brought more orders. The company said that new order intake from the PV industry fell below expectations due to market and capital spending factors.

CEO Jan von Schuckmann explained that China’s announcement at the end of May that it would significantly limit support for new solar power generation capacity surprised the sector and led to the postponement of planned investments in new production capacities for high-efficiency solar cells. “[..] we anticipate the planned investments will occur within the next twelve months, mainly in China,” Schuckmann added.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.139)

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