PV equipment and technology specialist, Amtech Systems reported a noticeable rebound in sales for its fiscal first quarter of 2014.
The company said that strong equipment shipments in the quarter were due to better execution of its order backlog, equating to shipments of over US$24 million.
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The company noted that the increase in shipments was primarily due to a large shipment of solar PV equipment related to n-type solar cell technology. The order is believed to be that related to multi-million dollar order received from Nexolon USA's new manufacturing plant in Texas. Amtech had received order for its next-generation diffusion and PECVD equipment required for high-performance n-type solar cells and modules.
However, this resulted in its order backlog declining to U$23.3 million in the first quarter, down from U$26.8 million in FYQ4 2013.
Significantly, Amtech said that revenue in the first quarter rebounded strongly to U$14.8 million, compared to only US$6.9 million in the previous quarter.
Fokko Pentinga, Chief Executive Officer of Amtech said, “Excellent execution of our order backlog resulted in strong shipments of over $24 million of products and services during the quarter. Our financial results reflect deferral of revenue and cost related to our new PECVD systems which we expect to recognize upon customer acceptance of the systems. Activity in the market has increased and we continue to have discussions with current and potential customers about our leading-edge technology solutions including our ion implant system, PECVD and N-type technologies. We are optimistic that the second half of 2014 will reflect a renewed demand for our products.”
Amtech also reported a solar segment equipment backlog of US$17.1 million for the end of the quarter, exactly the same as the previous quarter.
The company had reported new bookings in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2013 of US$8.4 million, but did not disclose new bookings for fiscal first quarter.
Overall, the company made a net loss of U$0.8 million in the quarter.
Amtech said later, in a conference call to discuss financial results that total customer orders in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 were US$9.8 million, which included US$2.2 million from its solar segment.
