New Mexico-based Array Technologies is keen to emphasize the revenue benefits of buying Spanish rival STI Norland and said US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act would also be good for business.
From pv magazine global
The acquisition of Spanish solar tracker maker STI Norland by Array Technologies saw net losses for shareholders in the US company almost treble in the second quarter.
Following a net loss of $5.5 million in April-June 2021, shareholders in New Mexico-based Array Technologies had to shoulder a $15 million hit in the second quarter of this year. In its April-June figures, released this week, Array Technologies said business from STI contributed $72.7 million to a quarterly revenue figure that more than doubled year on year to $425 million.
The Albuquerque-based manufacturer highlighted the importance of the passage of Biden‘s Inflation Reduction Act, which concerns clean energy and health care subsidies and measures to pay down the national deficit. The blocking of the original, more ambitious Build Back Better Act by Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (West Virginia) had prompted Array Technologies to predict that $240 million worth of its US solar-project related business would be threatened.
The expected passage of the Inflation Reduction Act – which would spend $369 billion combating climate change and incentivizing clean energy, and would extend the investment tax credit for solar by another 10 years – prompted Array Technologies to state that $240 million will now be safe, even if the projects concerned will not take shape this year.
“The Inflation Reduction Act, when passed, provides meaningful clarity on the long-term incentive structure for the solar industry including investments that aim to tackle climate change,” said Array Technologies CEO Kevin Hostetler. “This clarity allows participants to confidently make decisions on future investments, therein accelerating the adoption of solar energy.”
The company balance sheet published this week showed that its cash pile fell from $368 million at the end of last year to $51 million on June 30. But total assets rose over that period, from $1.14 billion to $1.78 billion, in part thanks to leaps in goodwill and other intangible assets. Liabilities rose from $975 million to $1.5 billion over the same period.
In November, pv magazine reported the STI Norland acquisition would cost Array Technologies €351 million ($360 million) in cash plus €13.9 million in company stock, with STI shareholders entitled to up to €55 million extra this year, based on the Spanish company’s gross earnings in 2021.
