Leading PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar cited stronger than expected demand and high order backlog in raising its full-year revenue guidance.
SMA Solar expects sales of €800 million to €850 million in 2015, up from previous guidance of €730 million to €770 million. The company said that it could potentially breakeven this year, compared to previous guidance of an EBIT loss of €30 million to €60 million. In a worse case scenario, SMA Solar said that it could expect an EBIT loss of €25 million in 2015.
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SMA Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Pascal Urbon said: “Global demand for photovoltaic inverters has developed better in 2015 than we had initially expected. This positive development is largely driven by the foreign markets, particularly North America.”
Management noted that according to market research firm GTM Research, SMA Solar held a 24% share of the US PV inverter market.
According to GTM Research, Advanced Energy shipped 17% of all inverters in the US in 2014.
Recently, Advanced Energy a key US inverter player said it was closing down its inverter business, opening the market to other companies.
SMA Solar expects stronger sales in the second-half of the year, noting that sales and earnings for the first-half of the year were in line with previous guidance, with sales expected to exceed €420 million. The company had guided sales to be between €400 million to €450 million in the first-half of 2015.