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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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29 Mar 2010 13:26

Broker tips: BSkyB, PV Crystalox, Antisoma

Broker UBS thinks the share price of pay TV operator British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has been buoyed by hopes of a bid from majority shareholder News Corporation, an event which the broker thinks is unlikely to happen. 'Although it cannot be ruled out, we would question the timing and rationale fo

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29 Mar 2010 13:14

Broker snap: PV Crystalox unjustly overshadowed

Solar panel silicon wafer maker PV Crystalox Solar (PVC) has seen its share price more than halve since May 2009 and Nomura Securities thinks the decline has gone too far. 'We reiterate our Buy rating as we see the stock as undervalued vs its peers given that we see upside from strong markets and a

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25 Mar 2010 07:53

PV Crystalox chops divi

PV Crystalox Solar, which makes the silicon wafers used in solar power systems, saw adjusted earnings more than halve in 2009 as the company was hit by a price squeeze. Total wafer shipment volumes in 2009 were 4% higher than in 2008 at 239 megawatts (mw) but with prices slumping in the second half

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10 Mar 2010 14:25

Sector movers: Melrose lifts engineering sector

Strong results from Melrose help lift the industrial engineering sector higher. Engineering conglomerate Melrose said the acquisition of FKI is working out better than expected for thee, helping it lift headline profits rise by almost two-thirds in 2009. Revenue advanced to £1,298.5m from £895.3m

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15 Jan 2010 16:39

London close: Footsie follows US lower

Footsie finished the week on a low as a poor performance in the US dragged the leading share index down in afternoon trading. US shares fell after consumer confidence rose less than expected in January. Here, Man Group was the heaviest faller after the hedge fund manager suffered a 4% drop in fund

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15 Jan 2010 14:27

London afternoon: Flat Footsie

The blue-chip index is treading water, though there has been some keen interest in the day's big results announcements. Man Group is sharply lower after the hedge fund manager suffered a 4% drop in funds under management during the third quarter, mainly due to the $1.2bn pulled out of its flagship

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12 Jan 2010 06:36

Tuesday tips round-up; Wolseley, BHP Billiton, Centamin

Ireland was not the biggest bet in Wolseley's decade-long multibillion-pound global acquisition spree, but the building-material distributor's exit from the country provides one of the starkest examples of how its ambitions have changed. Only five years ago, Wolseley paid €183m alone for Brooks, on

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11 Jan 2010 07:29

PV Crystalox trading in line

PV Crystalox Solar, the solar panel silicon wafer maker, said trading in the last six weeks of 2009 was in line with management expectations. Wafer shipments for the whole of 2009 were marginally above the guidance of 230-235 megawatts indicated in the November trading update, reflecting the impact

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19 Nov 2009 09:57

PV Crystalox Solar on track

PV Crystalox Solar, the maker of silicon wafers that are used in solar panels, said its full-year performance continues to be in line with expectations.? The group said the photovoltaic (PV) market is benefiting from improving demand driven by incentive programmes in Japan and in particular in Germ

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26 Sep 2009 22:41

The Fundamentalist: PV Crystalox Solar

It's rare for a growth stock to also be a value stock so my eye was caught by PV Crystalox Solar, the maker of silicon wafers that are used in solar panels, which scores close to five out of five on Digital Look's Star Rating system for both Value and Growth. An examination of the company's interim

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21 Aug 2009 11:10

FTSE 250 movers: Wellstream recovers some losses

Shares in Wellstream Holdings have recovered slightly after falling sharply yesterday when the pipeline products maker for the oil and gas industry reported a slide in half-year profits. Silicon wafers supplier PV Crystalox Solar, which said on Wednesday it is confident of a "robust" performance in

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19 Aug 2009 17:14

London close: Late rally leaves Footsie little changed

Share prices of London's leading stocks closed mixed, thanks to a late rally, after the market had spent most of the day in retreat. ENRC was the day's star performer despite reporting a 63% slide in pre-tax profits for the first half of 2009. The dividend has been cut in half but investors were e

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19 Aug 2009 14:14

London afternoon: Lloyds provides some cheer

The bears are back in command today with the blue-chip index in the red, though the size of the decline has been exacerbated by a number of index constituents trading in ex-dividend form. Former Bank of Ireland governor Richard Burrows is to be the new chairman of Lucky Strike maker British Americ

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19 Aug 2009 11:54

London midday: Shares stable at lower levels

Equities are back on the slide again today with little hope of a boost from the other side of the Atlantic where the Dow Jones 30 is expected to open around 80 points lower. ENRC is a bright spot despite reporting a 63% slide in pre-tax profits for the first half of 2009. The dividend has been cut

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19 Aug 2009 11:35

FTSE 250 movers: 'Robust' performance lifts PV Crystalox

Silicon wafers supplier PV Crystalox Solar is higher after saying it is confident of a "robust" performance in the second half despite reporting a 57% slump in earnings for the first six months of 2009. James Fisher is buoyant again after the marine services group yesterday said it has bought MB Fa

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