MANAGING BOARD OF SMA SOLAR TECHNOLOGY AG RAISES FORECAST FOR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR
The Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA/FWB: S92) raises its sales and earnings forecast for 2017. The new forecast predicts sales of €900 million to €950 million (previously: €830 million to €900 million) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €85 million to €100 million (previously: €70 million to €90 million). The amount of depreciation and amortization will remain unchanged in between €60 million and €70 million. As reasons for raising the forecast, the Managing Board cites the high order-intake, which has been increasing since the beginning of 2017 and the strong market demand in all regions, especially in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC).
„In the first half of 2017, incoming orders developed positively at SMA and the book-to-bill ratio was 1.4. The order backlog increased by 25% in the first six months of the year and amounted to roughly €673 million as of June 30, 2017. Incoming orders also remained high in July,” said SMA CEO Pierre-Pascal Urbon. “Against this backdrop, we raise our sales forecast for 2017 to €900 million to €950 million and our forecast for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to €85 million to €100 million. Net cash will rise to more than €450 million thanks to high operating cash flow.“
SMA will publish its half yearly financial report for January to June 2017 on August 10, 2017.
About SMA
The SMA Group with sales of around €1 billion in 2016 is the global market leader for solar inverters, a key component of all PV plants. SMA offers a wide range of products and solutions that allow for high energy yields for residential and commercial PV systems and large-scale PV power plants. To increase PV self-consumption efficiently, SMA system technology can easily be combined with different battery technologies. Intelligent energy management solutions, comprehensive services and operational management of PV power plants round off SMA’s range. The company is headquartered in Niestetal, near Kassel, Germany, is represented in 20 countries and has more than 3,000 employees worldwide, including 500 working in Development. SMA’s multi-award-winning technology is protected by more than 900 patents and utility models. Since 2008, the Group’s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and is currently the only company in the solar industry that is listed in the TecDAX index.
Source:SMA
