Spire Corp. saw its first quarter revenue impacted by two major contracts not receiving customer acceptance as expected. The turnkey PV manufacturing line specialist posted revenue of US$12.3 million, a 15% decrease from US$14.5 million for the same quarter of 2008.
“The ongoing global recession impacted our business in the first-quarter as PV companies continue to be cautious with their capital expansions and financing remains tight; this was a disappointing quarter,” remarked Roger Little, Chairman and CEO of Spire. “Our sales were down principally due to delayed acceptances on two substantial orders. Timing of delivery on large projects can cause our revenues to vary dramatically from quarter to quarter.”
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Spire Semiconductor revenues also decreased compared to the same period last year. However, the company said that it had begun shipping and billing to the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory under its program to develop a 42% efficient concentrator solar cell.
Spire posted a net loss of US $1.5 million which includes a gain of $1.54 million from a termination of a contract.
The company reiterated that its sales enquiry activity continued to increase as a result of its U.S. initiative on the back of the renewable stimulus package.