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Wonder what we will get at 7am. Hopefully a good outcome for us shareholder.
Sooner or later, though, he will have to decide whether PV Crystalox has any future at all. In a recent note, Peel Hunt said: “Investors are soon going to need to choose whether to push for maximising short-term cash returns (dividends, buybacks) or maintaining an industrial base in case of a solar market recovery.” Belief in the latter is not unrealistic: Bloomberg New Energy Finance said prices are “below manufacturing cost, and consequently unsustainable”. But even if prices do stage a comeback, PV Crystalox’s glory days are surely behind it.
Inside the City: Solar giant has lost its shine Danny Fortson Published: 12 August 2012 Sunday Times ONCE upon a time PV Crystalox Solar was a big company. At its height in 2008 the maker of components for solar panels was tickling the £1 billion mark. As of Friday, it was worth just £33m. Its main plant in Germany sits idle as management wait, quite possibly in vain, for panel prices to recover. Some say it should just wind itself up and return cash to shareholders. The company is a cautionary tale of what happens when European manufacturers go head to head with the Chinese juggernaut. A couple of figures tell the story. One is 75% — the drop in solar panel prices over the past three years thanks to a flood of cheap Chinese products. The second is 50 gigawatts — the global production capacity for a market that, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, is not likely to need more than 30GW this year. Again, most of this production is in China. The fallout has been horrendous. A pair of German panel makers — Q.Cells and Solon — have gone bankrupt. America’s First Solar shut its European arm in April. These are the prospects PV Crystalox faces. Its German factory, located in the appropriately named town of Bitterfeld, makes wafers that go into photovoltaic panels. It has been shut down for nearly a year because its only other option is to sell its wares at a loss. The other plant at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which churns out solar ingots, is still operating to comply with long-term contracts. Investors are less concerned with its core business, however. So dramatic has been the shift in the industry that PV Crystalox’s fortunes now depend more on courtroom battles than its manufacturing prowess. The company announced in May it had reached a €90m settlement with a customer that had pulled out of a contract. The payout was equal to four times its market value at the time. It is in arbitration with at least one other customer that no longer wants what PV Crystalox is selling. Analysts have pencilled in a big loss for the first half of the year. After that deficit is taken into account, plus tax on the settlement, the company should still be left with a cash pile of at least €50m. That would be equivalent to about 10p a share, more than the 8p at which the stock closed on Friday. Investors want some of that cash. They forced the resignation of Maarten Henderson, the chairman, in May. Iain Dorrity, the chief executive, has intimated that he could buy back shares or distribute some of the settlement money through a dividend. He will end the suspense on Thursday with the company’s first-half results. Sooner or later, though, he will have to decide whether PV Crystalox has any future at all. In a recent note, Peel Hunt said: “Investors are soon going to need to choose whether to push for maximising short-term cash returns (dividends, buybacks) or maint
So Thursday is going to be a massive day for us. Think we might see a 3 or 4p special dividend, but that just my feeling in the matter. In the paper article they say PVCS has a cash pile amount to 10p a share. So defo going to be interested what they tell us on Thursday, but not sure what the future holds. GLA
Would really like to know what's going on behinds PVCS's doors. Very quiet, but share price ticking up slowely. Anybody know? ATB
Thanks for your comments! Don't think they will go bust, but they have to tell us more about there plans for future development.
Today was a good test & held up very well with nearly 4% increase. Looking forward to the next few weeks with this share. Going to be interesting & i think there could be a couple of nice surprises on the way imo. Welcome aboard Losoea & good luck with your investment.
Hope so :-)
Yes I'm long term hold, but to get 50p I would say 3 years imo. But at this level today is still a very good long term investment & lots could happen over the next couple of months.
Very interesting reading and good times ahead. Will be interesting what pvcs do over the next few weeks. Will be good for all shareholders
PVCS possible dividend or buyback. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-18/pv-crystalox-cuts-shipment-forecast-30-percent-after-wafer-prices-skid Broker update http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4372353/FLASH-Peel-Hunt-upgrades-PV-Crystalox-Solar-from-hold-to-buy-target-price-increased-from-5p-to-15p.html
After the rise yesterday this held up very well & do think this will keep going up on Monday when more people look into this cash rich company. Would though like to know the long term strategy of PVCS & what they are going to do in a way of future development of their products.
All I can say is happy days & hope today's rise keeps going on Monday. Topped up week or so ago & not far from break even now after buying much of this stock in the 50's. Good luck all on Monday and fingers crossed for another large rise to get near pvcs worth.
Going to buy a good few more of these this week as a long term play. Got an average of 12p right now, but do feel the future will be ok. Not short term tho.
Been in here myself for 12 months and it one for the future for me. Got in mostly around the 45-50 mark and happy with the way it is heading at the moment. I really hits a wall at 65, but hoping once it can break that it should travel north the mid 70's. But breaking 65 will be tough. Previous years the SP has gone down when results announced, but this year it could be different IMO. This time next year think PVCS could be flying into the £1 mark again as 2011 should be a very good year and lots of spare cash to use if more investment is needed and more in demand. A dividend back up to pre 2010 would work wonders for investors and possible for this rich in cash company. Always DYOR and all that and fingers crossed for next week results. GL
That was a great buy at the end of trading! Let hope it continues tomorrow
All looking good for PVCS with lots of cash. Have about 15% of my portfolio in this and bought in the middle 40's. So what do people think this will be around the 24th? If we can get over the 65p mark this could fly into the 70's. I think the results will be good IMO compared to 2009. What do others think? DYOR and good luck all.