SMA Solar’s group sales for FY2024 declined by 19.7% YoY to €1.53 billion while its net income fell to -€117.7 million
Lower sales recorded for Home Solutions and C&I business divisions, with negative EBIT for both
The management plans to merge both these divisions into a single segment, named Home Business Solutions (HBS), from H1 2025
Low demand and high inventories continue to pummel Germany-based solar PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology’s business as these factors brought down its FY2024 sales by 19.7% year-on-year (YoY) to €1.53 billion. Its EBIT for the year was in the negative at €93.1 million from €269.5 million in 2023, according to the company’s preliminary, unaudited figures.
The group’s net income fell to -€117.7 million from €225.7 million on a YoY basis. EBITDA for the group was -€16 million, down from €311 million compared to the previous year, which the management blames on lower fixed cost degression due to low sales in the Home Solutions and the Commercial & Industrial Solutions segments.
“Despite the excellent sales and earnings performance in the Large Scale & Project Solutions segment, the 2024 fiscal year was overall very challenging,” shared SMA CEO Jürgen Reinert. “The operating performance of the segments Home Solutions and Commercial & Industrial Solutions was significantly shaped by the overcapacity on the market and the declining demand in the home and commercial sector.”
Increased costs and impairments on inventories, along with restructuring and transformation costs, were also contributing factors.
The Home Solutions business division sales declined by over 70% YoY to €170.3 million, while those for the C&I segment dropped by more than 61% to €183.8 million.
The decline in sales, combined with increased costs and impairment on inventories, among other factors, led to a negative EBIT for both these business divisions with Home Solutions reporting €150.7 million and C&I reporting €164.3 million.
Meanwhile, it was the Large Scale & Project Solutions business that drove the group sales for SMA last year as it reported over 39% YoY growth with sales of €1.17 billion, thanks to increased sales, reduction in fixed costs and the sale of a battery storage project. This segment also recognized positive EBIT of €227 million, up from €103.8 million in 2023 (see SMA Solar Technology Exits 2023 ‘Extremely Successfully’).
SMA sold 19.5 GW of inverter output in FY2024, down from 20.5 GW in FY2023. Its order backlog too decreased by more than 20% YoY as a result of the above stated factors in the Home Solutions and C&I segments to €1.35 billion.
Restructuring decisions
Following its restructuring and transformation program launched in September 2024, SMA has decided to merge the 2 business units, Home Solutions and C&I, into Home & Business Solutions (HBS), from H1 2025. This, along with the Large Scale & Project Solutions business division, will be responsible for the group’s profit and loss.
Additionally, under its Chief Transformation Officer (CTrO) Olaf Heyden, the company is implementing job cuts after discussion with the Works Council.
In a strategic move, SMA will also exit countries showing low growth potential, but did not name any specific markets. It expects these measures to save €150 million to €200 million from 2026.
Going forward, SMA forecasts annual sales of between €1.5 billion and €1.165 billion and EBITDA of €70 million to €110 million in FY2025. The newly created HBS division is expected to maintain a stable sales level this year, but it may not reach break-even, added SMA CFO Barbara Gregor.
She added, “We expect a slight sales growth in the Large Scale & Project Solutions division. Earnings will be slightly below the previous year due to higher costs and a changed product and regional mix.”
Meanwhile Jeff Osborne of TD Cowen pointed out, “SMA's new factory focused on large scale in Germany (sale and leaseback structure) is expected to start production in 2H25, which will double SMA's capacity to 40GW. Management is targeting a slow ramp of the new large-scale platform. We could see the factory ramping over several years given the demand slowdown and current utility backlog (utility segment roughly 60% sold out for 2025).”