Overview of H1 2023:
- Sales increase to €778.9 million (H1 2022: €471.8 million)
- EBITDA of €125.3 million significantly above previous year (H1 2022: €15.9 million)
- All segments with positive EBIT
- Sustained high order backlog of around €2.5 billion (H1 2022: €1.3 billion)
- Positive free cash flow of €80.6 million increases net cash to €304.6 million
- Conclusion of a new revolving credit line of €380.0 million for further growth financing
- Managing Board confirms raised sales and earnings guidance for 2023:
Sales of between €1,700 million and €1,850 million; EBITDA of between €230 million and €270 million
SMA Solar Technology AG successfully continued its growth course in the second quarter of 2023. Consolidated sales rose by 65.1% to €778.9 million in the first half of 2023 (H1 2022: €471.8 million) and were thus at the upper end of the range published on June 23, 2023. All three segments contributed to this very positive performance. The Home Solutions segment more than doubled its sales to €327.3 million (H1 2022: €135.5 million) in the first half of the year. Sales in the Commercial & Industrial Solutions segment also rose significantly by 64.0% from €118.4 million to €194.2 million. Sales in the Large Scale and Project Solutions segment reached €257.4 million after €217.9 million in the same period of the previous year (up 18.1%).
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also increased significantly from €15.9 million in the first half of 2022 to €125.3 million. This equates to an EBITDA margin of 16.1% (H1 2022: 3.4%). Reasons for the positive development include both the increase in sales as a result of improved material supply on the supplier side and the associated fixed cost degression in production, as well as a continued high-margin product mix.
At €106.1 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were also significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year (H1 2022: -€2.8 million). This equates to an EBIT margin of 13.6% (H1 2022: -0.6%). All segments recorded positive earnings development and significantly improved their profitability: EBIT Home Solutions: €93.4 million (H1 2022: €17.0 million); Commercial & Industrial Solutions: €6.7 million (H1 2022: -€11.1 million); Large Scale and Project Solutions: €8.8 million (H1 2022: -€6.3 million).
“The particularly good overall development in the first half of the year shows that we are optimally positioned with our diversified business model as a systems and solutions provider serving three segments,” said Dr Jürgen Reinert, CEO at SMA. “We want to continue to grow profitably. With our new gigawatt factory, we will create an additional 20 GW of capacity and more than 200 new jobs starting in 2025. In fact, three times as many jobs are created along the entire value chain.”
“After a strong start to the year, we successfully continued our growth path in the second quarter of 2023 and significantly increased both sales and earnings in all three segments,” added Barbara Gregor, CFO at SMA. “All three segments also closed the first half of 2023 with a positive result and have thus returned to profitability earlier than planned.”
Net income increased significantly to €103.5 million (H1 2022: -€10.6 million). Earnings per share rose to €2.98 (H1 2022: -€0.31).
The SMA Group is solidly financed and generated a positive free cash flow of €80.6 million in the first half of 2023. Net cash thus increased further to €304.6 million (December 31, 2022: €220.1 million). In addition, the SMA Group successfully concluded a new revolving credit line of €380 million with an extended group of banks in June 2023, thus setting the course for further profitable growth. The credit line has a term of five years with an extension option and replaces the previous syndicated credit line of €100 million. The equity ratio remained high at 39.5% (December 31, 2022: 41.8%).
As of June 30, 2023, the SMA Group still had a very large order backlog of €2,453.7 million (June 30, 2022: €1,290.3 million). At €2,075.3 million, more than three-quarters of this is attributable to product business (June 30, 2022: €861.3 million).
The SMA Managing Board confirms its sales and earnings guidance for the 2023 fiscal year, which was again adjusted upwards on June 23, 2023. It forecasts sales of between €1,700 million and €1,850 million (previously: €1,450 million and €1,600 million) and EBITDA of between €230 million and €270 million (previously: €135 million and €175 million).
