Solaria recovers 2% on the IBEX 35 after gaining 68% more in September
Renewable energy company Solaria earned 69.7 million euros, up 86%, in the first nine months of the year, thanks to higher production from new plants connected at the end of 2021 and in the 2022 financial year. The reaction of stock market investors to this result has been positive and Solaria’s shares rose 2.45% to 16.85 at 14.00 hours, although they are still well below their highs of last August.
As reported to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on Tuesday, the group’s revenues were 120.96 million euros, 51% more than in the first nine months of 2022.
Gross operating profit (ebitda) amounted to 109 million euros, an increase of 56% compared to the same period in 2021.
Personnel expenses increased by 41% due to the increase in the group’s average headcount compared to the same period of the previous year, which was necessary to undertake the company’s expansion process.
However, the weight of personnel expenses as a percentage of sales decreased by 1% compared to 2021, to 7%.
Operating expenses, on the other hand, decreased by 12%, mainly due to the costs of the 7% tax on electricity generation, suspended from July 2021.
At 30 September, the Solaria Group had a negative working capital of 5.7 million euros, a situation which, according to the company, is due to the timing of financing disbursements.
The company explained that it has financing lines available to meet current liabilities and that the increase in fixed asset investment is due to the development of new plants.
Solaria recalled that it has just signed a 134 million euro financing agreement with Banco Sabadell for the construction of 285 megawatts (MW) in projects located in Castilla y León.
With this transaction, the 2 gigawatts (GW) that Solaria has in operation and under construction are already financed.
Solaria’s average cost of debt is 3% and the company has 85% of its debt at a fixed rate, which protects it against rising interest rates.
Solaria’s assets in operation and construction currently total 2 GW and it already has 8 GW of capacity secured in Spain, equivalent to double (132%) its target of 6.2 GW by 2025.
