- Revenue increase of 40% to approximately EUR 1bn
- Costs of strategic and operational reorientation lead to annual loss of EUR 307m in 2008 – predominantly one-off effects
- Ammer: “We have reduced complexity, focused on our core competence and secured new financing.”
- Bernhard Milow appointed to Supervisory Board:solar expert makes committee complete once more
Hamburg, 29 April 2009 – Conergy AG today presented its 2008 financial statements.They show that, as previously reported, revenue increased by 40% to over EUR 1bn in 2008 (previous year: EUR 719m).At the same time, substantial one-time expenses incurred as a result of the company's fundamental reorientation placed a burden on earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), which remained at last year's level of EUR -213m.Due to the high interest burden from interim financing which has now been paid off, earnings before taxes (EBT) fell to EUR -280m (previous year: EUR -235m).This figure includes special items and other one-time expenses of EUR 172m which are due, amongst other things, to currency losses, the ramp-up in Frankfurt (Oder), and the ongoing restructuring programme.In its continued operations, the company thus recorded an annual result of EUR -254m (previous year: EUR -213m).Including operations which have now been discontinued, this led to an annual loss of EUR 307m (previous year: EUR -248m).
“The extensive clean-up efforts of the last 15 months have cost a lot of money.However, they will take a considerable load off Conergy from this year onwards and give us a solid basis from which to work through the financial and economic crisis,” said CEO Dieter Ammer.“Our 2008 annual result also shows the burden brought about by the financial and economic crisis from the fourth quarter of 2008 and by the change in the markets in the same period.A sharp drop in prices has taken root in the industry which has also led to one-time writedowns.However, this development gives Conergy greater scope in the medium and long term."
The 2008 result was also dragged down by writedowns related to the supply contract with the wafer manufacturer MEMC.On the basis of the termination negotiations which have been underway since the end of 2008, the company has taken the precaution of writing down a prepayment of USD 66m. As previously reported, following the breakdown of these negotiations, the Conergy Management Board decided to legally contest the contract under the jurisdiction of New York City. This decision is based on a series of invalid, particularly anti-competitive clauses which result, in Conergy's view, in the invalidity of the contract as a whole.
Meanwhile, Conergy has achieved some outstanding operational successes in 2008, setting global standards in the process.The “El Calaverón” project in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain saw Conergy plan and implement a solar park of 21.1 MW – one of the largest in the world.The “SinAn” solar park in South Korea, Asia's largest to date with peak output of 24 MW, also originated on Conergy’s drawing board.Ammer explains:“With its sales-oriented business model and its proven distribution network spanning 15 countries, Conergy has unrivalled access to customers, and therefore holds an advantage which will pay off in a market with fundamentally altered characteristics.”
Revival in March following poor start to the year
“With a reorganised Conergy 2.0 and a market that may have gone out of sync temporarily but still shows enormous fundamental growth potential, we are looking to the medium-term future with optimism,” said Ammer with regard to the company's outlook.Following the massive reduction in manufacturer capacities and the slump in the Spanish market, and spurred on by the financial crisis, the global solar market has been transformed from a seller's market to a buyer's market within a few weeks around the turn of the year.Although this development will strengthen Conergy's sales-oriented business model in the long term, the speed of the transition led to a modest start to the year in the first quarter of 2009.Preliminary figures show that revenue in the first three months of 2009 amounted to EUR 65m, which is 70% below the revenue generated in the first quarter of 2008. Sales in the first quarter of 2008 were unusually high, however, as positive special effects resulted from accounting changes made at the end of 2007.After a difficult fourth quarter of 2008, which was burdened by the financial and economic crisis in particular, the months of January and February were evidently still under the influence of this development.In March, on the other hand, business revived, without beingable tocompensate for the comparatively poor development of the previous months.
Bernhard Milow appointed to Supervisory Board
The District Court of Berlin has appointed Bernhard Milow as a new member of the Supervisory Board.At the start of the year, changes were made to the Supervisory Board personnel in order to properly represent the company's new ownership structure.With the addition of Bernhard Milow, the company now has a proven solar energy expert on its Supervisory Board. Milow has over 15 years experience in the field of renewable energy sources, with a particular emphasis on solar energy.He began his career in the mid-nineties at the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Stuttgart.He subsequently managed the Project Development and Monitoring department of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) at the European research institute for solar thermal power plant components in Almería, Spain.He was then made responsible for a programme of energy research strategy and planning at the DLR.Since 2007, in his role as Programme Director Energy, Bernhard Milow has coordinated the DLR's energy research and represented the DLR in the field of energy at a national and international level. The mandates of Milow and the three Supervisory Board Members legally appointed in February 2009 currently run to the next AGM on 10 June 2009.
About Conergy
Since its founding in 1998, Hamburg-based Conergy AG has sold more than a gigawatt in renewable energy, making it one of the biggest European suppliers of solar energy and other renewable energies, and a world leader in solar system integration. Of the one gigawatt in renewable energies, Conergy has installed more than 400 megawatts in its major projects, Of the total one gigawatt, 200 megawatts falls to its wind energy park projects and 800 to its globally marketed solar modules. According to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW) this is just under a fifth of the entire installed photovoltaic output in Germany. Calculative one in ten modules worldwide was produced, sold or installed by Conergy.
Listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2005, the group pursues a global growth strategy, The company now produces, installs and designs solar power systems and wind turbines in around 15 countries. The Conergy Group is represented with its own branches on four continents. |