Meyer Burger reports weaker H1 results

Swiss solar industry supplier Meyer Burger Technology AG (SWX:MBTN) on Thursday said first-half financial performance was below expectations, and more or less in line with preliminary figures.

The company posted negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of CHF 13.2 million (USD 13.5m/EUR 12.2m) versus earnings of CHF 29.2 million a year earlier, mainly due to a 47% drop in net sales. Adjusted for currency effects and the disposal of the company’s wafering business, revenue fell by 36.8%.

Meyer Burger still booked a group net profit of CHF 1.8 million, down from CHF 8.3 million in the first half of 2018.

The table below shows more financial figures from Meyer Burger’s H1 report.

Meyer Burger explained that in January-June 2019 the solar sector experienced weak demand in the largest end customer market -- China. CEO Hans Braendle noted that the company will not relocate some of its production to China, as originally planned, and will instead concentrate its future photovoltaic (PV) business activities mainly at its Hohenstein-Ernstthal location in Germany. The reason for that is the “significant decline and unattractive margins in standard PV business.”

Asia continued to be the most important sales region for the company in the six-month period, accounting for 73% of net sales. Europe represented 21% and the Americas had a share of 6%.

(CHF 1.0 = USD 1.022/EUR 0.922)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!