German photovoltaic (PV) inverters maker SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) on Thursday hailed a strong start to 2023 as it posted substantial increases in sales and earnings for the first quarter of the year.
Sales grew 66.5% year-over-year to EUR 367.2 million (USD 401.4m), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped to EUR 60 million from EUR 14.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, with EBITDA margin improving to 16.3% from 6.7%.
At EUR 51.7 million, net profit was well above the year-ago figure of EUR 3 million.
Results were driven by consistently high demand and better supply of electronic components. The company also benefited from positive effects from capacity utilisation and its current product mix.
Chief executive Juergen Reinert cautioned that the German group will not be able to continue the same strong all-round profitability on a linear basis throughout the whole year. “The reasons for this include changes to the product mix over the course of the fiscal year, seasonal costs and planned investments that will allow us to take advantage of the current growth opportunities,” he added.
SMA confirmed its 2023 sales and earnings guidance, which was raised in March. It sees 2023 sales in the range of EUR 1.45 billion to EUR 1.6 billion and EBITDA of between EUR 135 million and EUR 175 million.
(EUR 1 = USD 1.093)
