WASHINGTON: The month of September saw German-U.S. solar company SolarWorld post positive operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the first time this year as the company closes in on a successful 2015.
Confirming preliminary figures published at the end of October, the firm today released its group interim financials for the first nine months of the year, which revealed that groupwide shipments have grown year-on-year (Y/Y) by more than 25%, reaching 784 MW at the end of the third quarter.
Revenue rose to €532 million ($583 million) to reflect this, and meant that the company increased its revenue by more than 30% on the same period last year.
Guidance for the whole of 2015 is pegged at shipments breaking the 1 GW barrier and group revenue to reach €700 million ($753 million).
SolarWorld is confident that the positive EBIT achieved in September can be replicated in the fourth quarter, building up the improvements registered throughout the year that have seen EBIT improve to € – 18 million (up from € – 29 million between Q1 – Q3 2014). EBITDA over the same period this year rose to €15 million, up from €1.5 million in 2014.
However, despite these positive earnings, the company remains on course to end the year below profit, posting a small loss due to “delays in the implementation of operating measures” outlined in October’s preliminary results.
