SMA Solar raises both sales and earnings in Q1, keeps guidance

Source: SMA Solar Technology

German inverter maker SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) today reported a considerable increase in both sales and earnings in the first quarter of 2020 and reiterated its guidance for the full year.

The company posted a 71.6% year-on-year jump in sales to EUR 288 million (USD 311.4m) and a substantial rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from just EUR 0.6 million a year back to EUR 12.3 million in January-March 2020. It attributed the improved sales to strong project business in the US and the ongoing positive trade business in Europe.

During the quarter, SMA was close to a return to profit, registering a net loss of just EUR 0.3 million compared to EUR 10.6 million a year earlier.

More details are available in the table below.

Figures in EUR million, unless otherwise noted	Q1 2020	Q1 2019
Sales	287.9	167.8
EBITDA	12.3	0.6
EBITDA margin (%)	4.3	0.4
Net profit (loss)	(0.3)	(10.6)
Earnings (loss) per share	(0.01)	(0.30)

SMA’s photovoltaic (PV) inverter output sold more than doubled during the three-month period, reaching 4.4 GW compared to 1.8 GW a year back. It noted that order intake, at EUR 330 million, developed positively in all segments.

“Through active management and process adjustments, we have maintained our supply chain and our production capacity in the coronavirus crisis and suffered only minor supply shortages,” said CEO Juergen Reinert. According to him, the company’s Q1 sales and product-related order backlog already cover more than 60% of the sales forecast for 2020, which continues to be for a range of EUR 1 billion and EUR 1.1 billion.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.081)

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