- Incoming orders increased by 15% to CHF 308.5 million
- Order intake represents the highest volume in any half-year period since 2011
- Net sales reached CHF 212.3 million
- EBITDA was CHF 6.9 million
- Redemption of CHF 130 million 5% straight bond led to contraction of balance sheet total, positively impacting equity ratio which reached 43.4%
- Organisational alignments within the Executive Board for CTO and COO positions
- Outlook 2017 confirmed with net sales of about CHF 440-460 million and EBITDA of about CHF 30-45 million for fiscal year 2017
Meyer Burger Technology Ltd (SIX Swiss Exchange: MBTN) achieved strong incoming orders of CHF 308.5 million for the first half of 2017, representing an increase of 15% compared to the previous year (H1 2016 CHF 267.8 million). This reflects by far the highest volume in any half-year period since 2011 and confirms the trend that wafer, cell and module manufacturers are making new investments to upgrade their existing technologies and to increase their production capacities. It also underscores Meyer Burger’s strong market and technology position in the PV industry.
Several technology trends seen in the market, such as the shift from slurry based to diamond wire based cutting, the move to upgrade cell production with PERC applications to enhance cell efficiency, cell and module bifaciality and further increases in solar module efficiency show that the PV industry is in a technology-buy-cycle which Meyer Burger believes will continue for the time being.
The order backlog amounted to CHF 339.1 million as at 30 June 2017 (31.12.2016 CHF 244.5 million) and provides a strong backlog for the second half of 2017 and into fiscal year 2018. The book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.45 for the first half of 2017 (H1 2016 ratio of 1.23).
Net sales reached CHF 212.3 million and were 2.5% lower compared to the previous year period (H1 2016 CHF 217.8 million). Negative currency effects impacted net sales by about CHF 2.6 million or -1.2% in the first half of 2017. With the strong order backlog and substantial deliveries / customer acceptances scheduled by year-end 2017, the company expects a stronger second half year in net sales.
Operating income after costs of products and services amounted to CHF 98.2 million (H1 2016 CHF 107.2 million), with a margin of 46.3% for the first half of 2017 (H1 2016 49.2%). The operating income was burdened by several items, such as exceptional warranty provisions for an update / exchange of solar modules produced in the years 2008-2009, value adjustments on inventory in connection with streamlining the product portfolio, and negative currency effects on trade receivables and customer prepayments, for a total amount of CHF -11.4 million. Without these adverse effects, the margin would have been 51.2%, whereas for the first half of 2016 the normalised margin was at 48.3%.
