3 EU renewable firms offer hope amid grim general outlook
Chris Hodrien
Reuters Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:58am EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/renewables-results-idUSL5E7MB05920
111111
* SMA Solar/Acciona results beat views, Gamesa ups forecast
* SMA Q3 EBIT 74.7M euros vs 66.9 mln forecast
* Acciona 9-mth EBITDA (Earnings Before Income Tax, Depreciation and
Amortization) 934M eur vs 927M forecast
* Gamesa says to sell up to 3.5 GW of turbines in 2012
* SMA shares up nearly 9 pct, Gamesa up 6 pct, Acciona gains nearly 3 pct
(Updates with Gamesa earnings <http://www.reuters.com/finance/earnings> ,
forecasts, quotes, links)
By Christoph Steitz
<http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=christoph.steit
z&> and Jose Elías Rodríguez
FRANKFURT/MADRID, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Three European renewable energy groups
gave a ray of hope amid a dark outlook for green energy in 2012 with upbeat
guidance or forecast-beating third-quarter results boosted by international
expansion and power prices.
SMA Solar, Germany's No.1 solar group by sales, posted higher-than-expected
quarterly results, benefiting from strong business in the United States,
Belgium and Italy <http://www.reuters.com/places/italy> as well as
increasing demand for its maintenance services.
Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa forecast an uptick in 2012 sales thanks to
its expansion into new markets and stuck to its 2013 objectives, just two
days after larger peer Vestas scrapped its long-term goals.
One of the world's largest wind power generators, Spain's Acciona, posted
nine-months results above estimates, boosted by higher power prices for its
renewable energy..
"There just a little ray of sunlight shining through for the sector, parts
of which are in trouble otherwise. For the solar sector there are some
clouds on the horizon," a Luxembourg-based senior trader said.
Solar and wind power are facing possible subsidy cuts as many of their
mature markets are weighed down by ballooning public deficits and sluggish
economic growth.
Wind turbine makers are also fighting tough competition from a raft of new
market players who are saturating the global market, as well as cheap
unconventional gas and regulatory uncertainty in the United States, a major
market for wind.
At 1500 GMT, shares in SMA, the world's largest maker of electric current
inverters, a key component of solar power generation systems, were 8.92
percent higher, outperforming a 1.55 percent gain in the OekoDAX index of
Germany's biggest renewable stocks.
Gamesa shares were up 6.46 percent, while Acciona gained 3.78 percent, both
outperforming a 2.9 percent gain on the IBEX leading Spanish share index.
SMA said it made a third-quarter profit before interest and tax of 74.7
million euros ($102 million), down 62 percent on a year ago but higher than
the average forecast of 66.9 million euros given by analysts in a Reuters
poll.
Acciona, which has cut guidance for new wind farms at previous quarterly
results presentations, relieved investors by sticking to forecasts for an
average of 500 MW of farms in 2011 and 2012, and even said it may pick up
unfinished wind farms from cash-strapped promoters and finish them.
"While before it was all in-house projects, the new market (for wind farms)
comes from developers or local investors in foreign markets who are not able
to complete their projects," Acciona's chairman Jose Manuel Entrecanales
said at a conference call after results.
SMA reaffirmed its forecast for 2011 sales of 1.5-1.7 billion euros
($2.0-2.3 billion) and earnings before interest and tax of 220-300 million,
while Gamesa reiterated its 2011 target for sales of 2.8-3.1 gigawatts of
turbines and said it will sell 3.0-3.5 GW in 2012.
Germany's SMA also benefited from slashed analyst estimates, that were
lowered by about a fifth on average since September, when it rocked the
sector by issuing a profit and sales warning, after lower government
support in the world's two largest markets Germany
<http://www.reuters.com/places/germany> and Italy had curbed demand.
The renewable industry still needs so-called feed-in tariffs -- costs paid
by utilities to generators of renewable energy -- to stay competitive
vis-a-vis fossil-fuel based energy as it is not yet competitive in terms of
production costs. .
Gamesa and Acciona are focusing on growth outside their traditional market
of Spain, where looming elections and imbalances in the power tariff system
have delayed legislation on feed-in tariffs for new wind power from 2013
onwards.
Late last month, SMA's main rival Power-One posted a drop in quarterly
profits and forecast weak fourth-quarter revenue, citing uncertain global
macroeconomic conditions.
This partly chimed with SMA Solar which said it was unable to give a
reliable outlook for next year, citing ongoing turmoil in the euro zone
<http://www.reuters.com/subjects/euro-zone> and the solar industry that led
most sector players to cut their forecasts in recent weeks. "As long as the
dust hasn't settled yet, we won't give a forecast for 2012, there is simply
too much uncertainty," Chief Executive Pierre-Pascal Urbon said during a
conference call.
Monday will see another batch of results from renewable companies, including
wind turbine maker Nordex, SolarWorld and Q-Cells, which are expected to
report losses or falling profits. ($1=0.736 euros) (Additional reporting and
writing by Jonathan Gleave; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)