SMA Solar Technology AG has released provisional results for 2015, which indicate that it has exceeded its guidance for both revenue and profitability. The company reports roughly 1 billion in revenues, a 24% increase over the prior year, and 30-33 million in operating income.
SMA indicates that its sales were driven mainly by solutions for utility-scale solar projects, but notes growth in its sales of residential and commercial solutions as well.
The companys positive if narrow operating result is in contrast to losses in 2013 and 2014. Even SMAs first half 2015 report showed operating losses.
This return to profitability has come at a price. SMA reports that at the end of 2015, 1,400 employees had left the company as a result of what CEO Pierre Pascal-Urbon described as unfortunate but necessary staff reductions.
Following the Companys transformation, we have effectively lowered fixed costs and increased our financial and operational flexibility with extensive measures, declared Pascal-Urbon in a press statement. We can therefore better respond to the volatile market development and generate profits even when sales are lower than before.
Despite a loss in market share to Asian competitors during the last few years, SMA estimates that it still supplies roughly 20% of the global inverter market.
pv magazine will report from SMAs Capital Markets Day on January 29, and the company will publish full 2015 results on March 30.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.