SAG Solarstrom reiterates 2013 outlook despite 9-mo loss

Nov 8, 2013 - German PV project developer SAG Solarstrom (ETR:SAG) has confirmed its outlook for 2013 although it plunged into an operating loss of EUR 2.8 million (USD 3.7m) in the first nine months from a profit of EUR 760,000 a year earlier.

The company still expects to achieve a positive operating result for the full year. It also expects installation and sales volume to exceed 117 MW. The nine-month operating loss was mainly due to high preproduction costs for large-scale projects and an accelerated expansion on markets outside Europe.

Net loss deepened to EUR 8 million from EUR 3 million, including the operations of its loss-making retail business Partner Sales, discontinued in June.

Despite the European solar market shrunk by 50%, revenue declined only by 17% year-on-year to EUR 74.5 million in the nine month period, 63% of which was achieved in the UK.

Revenue in the third quarter, however, slumped by 78% to EUR 11.6 million mainly because of a delay in the implementation of planned projects in the UK due to unclear regulations regarding imports of Chinese PV modules.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.340)

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