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Dark ages continue for PV Crystalox

Thu, 16th Aug 2012 08:48

Cash conservation remains the name of the game at solar power systems component maker PV Crystalox Solar, dashing the hopes of those shareholders hoping the company would distribute some of its cash pile.At the end of June the company was sitting on €122.4m of cash, up from €22.6m at the end of 2011, after a customer paid off the company to end a long term contract.There had been hopes that the company would return some or all of this cash to shareholders, possibly as part of a long term plan to wind down the company, which is bleeding money in an exceedingly tough market for its products which are, in solar power terms, dark ages technology.Instead, the company seems intent on sitting out what it regards as an "irrational" market."Looking forward, the intensely competitive market conditions are not expected to improve in the short term and so we continue with our cash conservation strategy. The board will make the necessary decisions during the remainder of the year to serve the best interests of shareholders," said Iain Dorrity, Chief Executive Officer, in the company's interim results statement.Revenues in the first half of 2012 slumped to €32.63m from €129.59m the year before, largely as a result of the group's refusal to sell at daft prices which, in the company's view, are the result of Chinese manufacturers causing massive over-supply in the industry.Spot wafer prices, which fell by 70% during the twelve months from April 2011, have continued to fall albeit at a slower rate and continue to remain below industry production costs, the company noted.The group continues to operate at around 20% to 25% of its wafer production capacity levels and to focus on sales to long-term contract customers where it is possible to negotiate prices at a premium to prices in the spot market. Unfortunately, it has not been able to reach agreement on acceptable wafer prices and volumes with all its long-term contract customers. Consequently, shipment volumes during the first half of the year were 61MW (megawatts), in line with the range of 55-70MW indicated in the May 19th trading statement, but below the group's earlier expectation of 80-100MW and significantly less than the 204MW achieved in the same period last year.Full year shipment volumes are expected to be in the range of 100-120MW. The group's average selling prices are expected to be maintained significantly above spot levels.With much of its production capacity sitting idle, the group has decided to write down the carrying value of its polysilicon plant at Bitterfeld by €44.7m, which has been treated as an exceptional charge. It has also written down the value of its inventory by €14.22m and increased the onerous contract provision in respect of contracts with external suppliers of polysilicon by €37.1m. So, even with the €98.7m received from customers for settlements or amendments to contracts, the company still made a loss. Loss before tax was €11.91m, versus a profit in the first half of last year of £24.34m.In line with the company's cash conservation strategy, it has not declared an interim dividend.Interim Chairman John Sleeman was given the gig full time at a board meeting on August 14th, succeeding Maarten Henderson, who stepped down in May. The shares slumped to 7.85p in the morning session from 8.3p overnight.JH
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27 Nov 2013 09:11

PV Crysatolx Solar Rises As It Proceeds With Share Consolidation

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19 Nov 2013 13:39

PV Crystalox Solar Continuing To Conserve Cash, Shares Up 5%

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19 Nov 2012 08:48

PV Crystalox Solar to return cash to shareholders

PV Crystalox Solar saw shares rise strongly on Monday morning following news that is to return some of its cash pile to shareholders. In an interim management statement, the manufacturer of components for solar power cells, announced: "The group has a strong net cash balance and the board is contin

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15 Aug 2012 17:57

Thursday preview: Hikma, PV Crystalox, retail sales

Acquisitions are set to put a gloss on the interim results of pharmaceuticals firm Hikma on Thursday. Peel Hunt is expecting the group to report sales of more than $500m, up 25% on the first half of last year when, admittedly, results had been negatively affected by the so-called Arab Spring. Sale

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12 Aug 2012 16:01

Sunday share tips: Genel, Barclays, Crystalox

Genel, the oil investment vehicle headed by Tony Hayward, the former chief executive of BP, has been unloved by the stock market. Genel had 1.8bn dollars (1.15bn pounds) of cash when it gave its last trading update. Last week it spent 240m dollars buying an additional 21 per cent interest in a Kurdi

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18 May 2012 16:53

London close: Footsie battered again

Footsie finished not far off its low for the day after a lunch-time rally fizzled out. With speculation rife in Spain that a ban on short-selling stocks might be reintroduced, holders of stock in UK banks Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays could be forgiven that might not be such a bad id

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18 May 2012 13:18

PV Crystalox Solar soars on cash settlement

Shares in PV Crystalox Solar, a solar wafers supplier, rocketed after the firm reached a cash settlement relating to a terminated wafer supply contract that exceeded its market cap. The €90m sum will be recognised as income for the first half of 2012 by the company, which has seen its market capit

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28 Mar 2012 10:34

Crystalox Solar sees tough 2012 ahead

Solar wafers supplier PV Crystalox Solar warned of tough times ahead but said it remained committed to the solar industry after experiencing a difficult 2011. The company blames its woes on a dramatic increase in worldwide production capacity in the photo voltaic (PV) industry, driven by companies

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22 Sep 2011 14:30

Sector movers: Commodity prices drop, miners unwanted

Mining stocks led the sell-off on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve yesterday painted a gloomy picture of the state of the US economy, dampening sentiment across global stock markets. "Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August indicates that economic growth remains

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19 Aug 2011 06:47

Friday tips round-up: Savills, Soco, Sage...

The last time we looked at the Savills, we opted to buy, reasoning that its international reach, coupled with exposure to the resilient upper end of the UK market, gave it an edge. Yesterday's half-yearly results confirmed our confidence. The group said revenues in the six months to the end of June

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18 Aug 2011 12:20

Broker tips: Henderson, Cineworld, PV Crystalox

UBS scaled back its numbers for fund manager Henderson Group on Thursday as a consequence of "lower market levels and lower flows." "Given the cautious outlook for the retail segment, we are now looking for modest outflows in [the second half] from this segment, versus healthy net flows of circa £4

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18 Aug 2011 12:18

Broker snap: Merchant Securities upgrades PV Crystalox to hold

Merchant Securities has upgraded its rating on PV Crystalox Solar, the solar power wafers manufacturer, from sell to hold after the stock's recent underperformance. Revenue was up from $59.6m to $78.7m in the six months to 30 June, while adjusted pre-tax profit (excluding a currency impact) rose fr

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18 Aug 2011 08:31

PV Crystalox Solar still in the shade

Despite a significant rise in pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 June, PV Crystalox Solar has decided not to declare a dividend because of "challenging market conditions". The solar power wafers manufacturer's pre-tax profit was up $14.5m to $15.9m after exploration write-off before tax of $6

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