LONDON (Alliance News) - PV Crystalox Solar PLC on Thursday said it saw a sharp fall in profit in 2018 following the closure of its production facility in the UK.
The company, which produces multicrystalline silicon wafers for use in solar electricity generation systems, said pretax profit declined to EUR1.6 million in 2018 compared to EUR12.0 million reported a year earlier. Revenue dropped to EUR6.3 million from EUR26.4 million.
This decrease was due to the significantly lower wafer sales volumes following the shutdown of multicrystalline silicon wafer production in the first half of 2018 and the absence of any polysilicon trading, the company explained.
"After an extensive review of the strategic options for the future of the group, the board has concluded that returning a large proportion of available cash, as part of an orderly resolution of the group's affairs, would be in the best interest of shareholders rather than the pursuit of acquisitions," said Chair John Sleeman.
PV Crystalox intends to return EUR42.8 million to its shareholders, equivalent to 24 pence per share.
The stock was trading 3.3% higher on Thursday at 25.20p a share.
"Following the capital return the board will consider the options available to maximise any value from the listing of group's shares on the official list. Consideration will also be given to the possible cancellation of the listing," added Chief Executive Iain Dorrity.