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Miércoles, 23 de Mayo de 2012
Coping with the difficulties in the solar industry, Boston-based power conversion solutions provider Satcon Technology Corporation laid out a set of cost reduction measures to improve its financial performance in the long term.
In a statement released Wednesday, the company, which sells inverters that convert DC power to AC, said it will close its Canadian manufacturing facility and will be restructuring its office and warehouse infrastructure in Europe, China and the United States.
It will reduce its workforce by 35 percent or 140 employees worldwide, a move will result in charges worth approximately $2.8 million to $3 million.
It will also write down the value of some of its inventory to reflect a downturn in solar panel prices. This will force the company to book charges of $20 million to $26 million in the fourth quarter, the company said.
"The worldwide solar market conditions in 2011 demonstrated the dynamic nature of this maturing industry," said Steve Rhoades, Satcon's president and chief executive. "The compounding effects of reduced panel costs and market demand shifts toward North America and Asia have forced the entire industry to adjust as we enter the next phase of development."
But Mr. Rhoades said decreasing prices present significant opportunity for Satcon, where, in the regions mentioned, demand for their large-scale inverter solutions reportedly nearly doubled compared with the previous year.
Under the plan, Satcon will focus product development on its Prism Platform, the company's turnkey multimegawatt medium voltage building block for large-scale commercial and utility solar.
The company said it will concentrate marketing efforts on North America, China, India and Thailand, as well as other emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The measures we have announced today will help to ensure that Satcon achieves the financial strength required to profitably maintain our leadership position as the standard for large scale inverter systems as solar power generation becomes a more affordable and stronger investment worldwide," he added.
Satcon expects ongoing savings of approximately $15 million to $17 million annually once all actions are implemented by the second quarter of 2012.
Satcon reported $45 million in revenues in the third quarter of 2011 and expects fourth quarter revenues in the range of $37 million to $42 million. As of January 4, the company's shares were trading at $0.571 per share on the Nasdaq. (Jhoanna Frances S. Valdez)
