In the course of the first six months of 2011, SolarWorld AG expanded its business continuously. The group increased the shipment of wafers, solar power modules and kits from 185 MW in the first quarter of 2011 to 196 MW in the second quarter of 2011. Revenue went up by 29.7 percent from € 233.0 million in Q1 to € 302.1 million in Q2. EBIT rose from € 27.9 million in the Q1 to € 40.2 million in Q2. EBIT margin improved from 12.0 percent in Q1 to 13.3 percent in Q2. The group generated a net income of € 12.5 million in Q1 and of € 9.9 million in Q2. 

SolarWorld succeeded in increasing its groupwide shipments from 377 MW in the first half of 2010 to 381 MW in the first half of 2011. “We have stood our ground well,“ explained Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. “You have to remember that the German solar market in 2010 was characterized by a politically induced special demand with strong pull-forward effects.” In 2010, Germany experienced a boom of additional installations with a capacity of some 7.4 GW. While in the first half of 2010 more than 3.8 GW was newly installed, the German solar market was less than 2 GW in the same period of 2011 according to estimates by SolarWorld AG. “For the full year of 2011, we are expecting additional installations in Germany of more than 4 GW,“ said Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck.

The dynamic business in the United States made a significant contribution to the success of the group in the first half of 2011. In terms of shipments, SolarWorld AG reached a foreign quota of 69% (H1 2010: 47%).

Groupwide revenue in the first half of 2011 amounted to € 535.0 million (H1 2010: € 608.4 million). EBIT amounted to € 68.1 million in the first half of the year (H1 2010: € 83.7 million). In the first six months of 2011, the group generated an EBIT margin of 12.7 percent (H1 2010: 13.8 percent) and a net income of € 22.4 million (H1 2010: € 34.8 million).

From today’s point of view, SolarWorld will meet its expectation for the year 2011 with an expected increase of demand in the second half of the year. The political and macroeconomic background conditions may, however, lead to cyclical industrial surplus volumes and corresponding undercut prices in the solar market in the second half of the year, which in turn may influence the revenue and earnings development.