SMA Solar returns to profit in Q3 2019

Source: SMA Solar Technology

German inverter maker SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) returned to profit in the third quarter of 2019, but the nine-month net result was a loss of EUR 10.5 million (USD 11.6m).

The company said today it achieved positive quarterly earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first time since the second quarter of 2018. For January-September, however, SMA recorded a negative EBIT of EUR 8.8 million, versus a positive result of EUR 11 million in 2018.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first nine-months of 2019, at EUR 25.7 million, halved when compared to the same period of 2018 because the prior result included positive one-off items. Sales grew by 9.7% EUR 630.8 million after photovoltaic (PV) inverter sales rose to 7.5 GW from 6.2 GW a year ago.

SMA confirmed its guidance for a full-year EBITDA of EUR 20 million to 50 million and said it expects to reach the top quarter of its sales guidance of EUR 800 million-EUR 880 million.

“After a modest development in the first half of the year, we posted significant growth in sales and earnings in the third quarter, as expected,” said CEO Juergen Reinert. Revenue growth was due to very good quarterly business performance of all segments. Details are available in the table.

Results in EUR million	Q3 2019	Q3 2018	9-mo 2019	9-mo 2018
Sales	268.1	180.5	630.8	575.1
EBIT (loss)	5.6	(3.7)	(8.8)	11
— of which home solutions	4.5	4.8	1	18.3
— of which business solutions	(1)	(0.5)	(0.3)	24.4
— of which large-scale & project solutions	2.2	(4.7)	(8.9)	(24.5)
Net profit (loss)	3.7	(2.8)	(10.5)	8.5