Solar Millennium's share drops 28% on Thursday afternoon

Aug 18, 2011 - The share in German solar power firm Solar Millennium (ETR:S2M) lost 28.7% in floor trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at 1455 CET today and fell by 27.5% on Xetra at 1438 CET.

Investors' confidence in the company's stock is declining due to series of negative news from the last days.

According to different media reports, German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) is currently investigating Hannes Kuhn, founder and supervisory board member of Solar Millennium, on suspicion of insider trading.

The news came in addition to the already ongoing lawsuit against former CEO Utz Claasen, who was appointed as CEO in January 2010 but left the company after 74 days. Solar Millennium demands a repayment of the EUR 9 million (USD 12.95m) he received as an advance payment for five years ahead.

An announcement from today that the company's Blythe solar thermal power project in California will be converted into a photovoltaic (PV) technology power plant provoked additional worries among investors. The decision of Solar Millennium, which is said to be specialising in the development and construction of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, seems to be considered as a strategy turnaround despite the company's statement that it is holding on to its long-term strategy.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.439)

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