- Inverter output sold increased to 7.5 GW (Q1-Q3 2018: 6.2 GW)
- Sales clearly above the previous year’s level at €630.8 million (Q1-Q3 2018: €575.1 million)
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €25.7 million (Q1-Q3 2018: €50.5 million)
- Financial stability thanks to solid equity ratio of 40.5% (December 31, 2018: 42.9%) and net cash of €259.1 million (December 31, 2018: €305.5 million)
- Continued high order backlog of €797.0 million, of which €428.7 million is attributable to the product business (December 31, 2018: €175.4 million of product business)
- Cost reduction program develops as planned
- Managing Board confirms its sales and earnings guidance for the 2019 fiscal year
Net income came to –€10.5 million from January to September 2019 (Q1-Q3 2018: €8.5 million). Earnings per share thus amounted to –€0.30 (Q1-Q3 2018: €0.24). With net cash of €259.1 million (December 31, 2018: €305.5 million) and an equity ratio of 40.5% (December 31, 2018: 42.9%), SMA continues to have a solid balance-sheet structure.
“In the first nine months of the year, SMA’s business performance developed as anticipated by the Managing Board,” said SMA Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Reinert. “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. It is particularly pleasing to see that we again generated positive EBIT from July to September for the first time since the second quarter of 2018. Order intake is also continuing to develop positively. As of September 30, 2019, SMA had a product-related order backlog of around €429 million. In this context, the Managing Board expects that we will reach the top quarter of our sales guidance for the 2019 fiscal year and that the good performance in the first quarter of 2020 will continue.”
The SMA Managing Board confirms its sales and earnings guidance for the 2019 fiscal year and predicts sales of €800 million to €880 million. The Managing Board expects SMA to reach the top quarter of its sales guidance and estimates that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will amount to between €20 million and €50 million. Depreciation and amortization are expected to be approximately €50 million.
The quarterly statement for January to September 2019 can be found at www.SMA.de/IR/FinancialReports.
Disclaimer:
This press release serves only as information and does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for, acquire, hold or sell any securities of SMA Solar Technology AG (the “Company”) or any present or future subsidiary of the Company (together with the Company, the “SMA Group”) nor should it form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract to purchase or subscribe for any securities in the Company or any member of the SMA Group or commitment whatsoever. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
This press release can contain future-oriented statements. Future-oriented statements are statements which do not describe facts of the past. They also include statements about our assumptions and expectations. These statements are based on plans, estimations and forecasts which the Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA or company) has available at this time. Future-oriented statements are therefore only valid on the day on which they are made. Future-oriented statements by nature contain risks and elements of uncertainty. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors can lead to considerable differences between the actual results, the financial position, the development or the performance of the corporation and the estimates given here. These factors include those which SMA has discussed in published reports. These reports are available on the SMA website at www.SMA.de. The company accepts no obligation whatsoever to update these future-oriented statements or to adjust them to future events or developments.
