(ADPnews) - Oct 28, 2010 - Norwegian photovoltaic (PV) firm Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSL:REC), or REC, saw its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grow to a better-than-expected NOK 827 million (USD 140.4m/EUR 101.6m) in the third quarter of 2010.
The item was projected at NOK 703 million, according to estimates collected by SME Direkt for Norwegian news wire TDN Finans. The estimates ranged from NOK 538 million to NOK 866 million.
In July to September 2009, REC posted EBITDA of NOK 449 million.
Revenue increased to NOK 3.783 billion from NOK 2.071 billion, REC said in its third-quarter report, released today. The average expectations were for NOK 3.635 billion.
However, REC saw its pretax loss swell to NOK 1.003 billion in the third trimester of 2010, from NOK 398 million a year earlier, undershooting the market consensus for a NOK-228-million loss.
Net financial items were negatively impacted by changes in currency rates and fair value adjustments of a convertible bond.
The EBITDA margin rose from 16% in the second quarter to 22% in the third quarter.
Adjusted for restructuring costs related to the closure of the module plant in Glava, Norway, estimated at NOK 93 million, and reversal of NOK 37 million of the provision for junction-box repair, the underlying third-quarter EBITDA was NOK 882 million.
REC said it registered continued strong demand across all product areas in the third quarter, but the average selling prices decreased due to higher sales of lower-grade polysilicon.
The operating profit more than tripled to NOK 155 million from NOK 46 million, outperforming the average projections for NOK 80 million. The result was boosted by higher sales volume and the ramp-up of the production facility in Singapore.
The third-quarter EBITDA was pulled down by NOK 50 million, due to a power outage in REC Silicon's production facilities in Moses Lake, Washington, in the USA, in July 2010.
(NOK 1.0 = USD 0.170/EUR 0.123)
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