SMA Solar Sold 14.4 GW Solar Inverters In 2020

• SMA Solar expects its annual sales in 2020 to have exceeded €1 billion with 14.4 GW capacity sold
• Its net profit during the period added up to €28 million while order backlog till the end of December 2020 was worth €855 million
• In 2021, the management has guided for annual sales of €1.075 billion to €1.175 billion, while its EBITDA range is between €75 million and €95 million

With 14.4 GW solar PV inverters sold in 2020 reflecting 26% annual growth over 11.4 GW sold in 2019 Germany's SMA Solar Technology AG exceeded 100 GW of installed inverter capacity globally. The growth is impressive in a year when the world was left battered and bruised by COVID-19 related challenges. SMA Solar said it did not halt production even for a single day last year and did not have to claim for state aid either.

In a preliminary assessment offered by the company for its business performance in 2020, the company management expects its annual sales to have increased to €1.027 billion and EBITDA to €72 million, in line with its expectations (see SMA Solar Improved Annual Sales In 2019 By Around 20%). There was 12% YoY growth in the Home Solutions and Large Scale & Project Solutions segments while there was 1% drop in sales for business solutions department. Sales during Q4/2020 are expected to have added up to €254 million.

Group turned profitable in 2020 with a net income of €28 million compared to a net loss in 2019. At the end of 2020, its total order backlog was worth €855 million divided between products and services, with 44% of it in the Americas.

"We sold almost 15 GW of inverter output for the first time in 2020. That corresponds to the power as of 12 nuclear power plants," shared CEO Jürgen Reinert. "In 2021, we will build on this success, benefit from the expected positive market development and further increase sales and earnings."

Its confidence stems from the expected continuing growth of markets in Europe and America along with the global storage market. In 2021, SMA Solar will target annual sales of €1.075 billion to €1.175 billion, while its EBITDA range is between €75 million and €95 million.

Sharing the company's future roadmap and business plans for the year 2021 during its 13^th Capital Markets Day on February 5, 2021, the management stressed that continuous improvement of its product portfolio and cost savings initiatives will drive sustained profitability in 2021.

Jeffrey Osborne of Cowen commented, "The company laid out a roadmap to ~20% gross margin in '21 and the commentary of getting to greater than 10% EBITDA margins in '25 suggests GM can continue to expand to the low 20s over time as new products that are cost optimized kick in and more non-solar items become more meaningful, in particular storage, EV charging and digital energy coupled with O&M/service." While Osborne was generally pleased with what he saw, he would like to see more, "We like the fundamentals of the company, but we believe SMA lacks additional levers to raise gross margin much above the low 20% range in our view."

The complete consolidated financial statements for 2020 will be published by SMA on March 25, 2021.