L R AS Published on Sunday 3 September 2023 - n° 455 - Categories:company results
Tecsol clarifies Meyer Burger's accounts and policy
Tecsol clarifies Meyer Burger's accounts and policy
In addition to last week's (https://www.actu-solaire.fr/index.php?p=articles.show&id=17219&search=meyer) :
The strengthening of Chinese competition in Europe in the 2nd quarter, with prices particularly below production costs, forced this manufacturer to reduce its prices and write down stocks
for CHF 13 million. Personnel costs and operating expenses were higher than in thefirst half of 2022, as were depreciation, amortisation and impairment of assets. This resulted in an ebitda loss of CHF 43 million.
Increased competition from China forced Meyer Burger to strengthen its industrial presence in the United States at the expense of Germany. In the US, Meyer Burger is eligible for the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit (AMTC), which corresponds to a cumulative eligible amount of up to CHF 1.4 billion from the start of production in mid-2024 to the end of 2032. In addition, the company has made its customers sign an agreement to bear the risk of a rise in wafer prices. As a result, the sales price is fixed for the duration of the contract, since the feasibility of the cost structure has already been proven in current production in Germany. Meyer Burger expects to achieve an achievable Ebitda margin of at least 25% for the US business after completion of the production ramp-up (planned from 2025).
The company points out that the European market has become unfair to European manufacturers. This is due to the lack of protection against Chinese manufacturers who are offering panels that are well below their production costs. It adds that the European market needs the rapid implementation of industrial policy measures, already announced by the European Union, to remedy the market failure.It adds that the European market needs the rapid implementation of industrial policy measures, already announced by the European Union, to remedy the current market failure and the resulting preferential treatment of Chinese suppliers and transform it into fair competition.
The company's priority objective is to bring the cell factory in the United States into production. The Group plans to further expand capacity under industrially attractive and sustainable conditions in the US. Earnings for the second half of the year could be positively impacted by expected wafer price reductions and increased sales activity.
On the other hand, capital expenditure and the limited visibility of panel price trends in Europe make it difficult to forecast full-year results, particularly for ebitda. However, 800 MW of panels should be produced by 2023.
Tecsol, 30 August 2023
