The strategy to diversify its business away from dependence on sectors such as solar is proving to be a significant success for equipment supplier, Manz AG.
The company reported record quarterly sales of €87.9 million and guided full-year sales to the highest in the company's history of between €250 million to €260 million.
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However, management noted in a conference call to discuss financial results that little had changed in the solar sector, which remained in overcapacity, noting that there was still no capital investments, despite a growing end market.
Dieter Manz, CEO and founder of Manz AG said that consolidation in the solar sector was still ongoing outside of China, while bankrupt companies continued in production, dampening real consolidation that is required to return the industry to a balanced supply and demand state. Until this happens, hopefully in the next 6 to 12-months he did not expect a recovering in solar equipment sales.
Reflecting this, Manz reported solar equipment segment sales of only €4.7 million in the first-half of 2013, accounting for only 3.4% of total sales. The solar segment reported losses of €10.5 million in the first-half of the year, almost the same (€10.4 million) as in the same period a year ago.
The solar segment also accounted for only 1.2% of its order backlog, while the high-growth in its Display division was said to be the main driver sales growth during the first six months of 2013.
