Consolidated Annual Report 2012 and Single-Entity ... - PVA TePla AG

SOLAR SYSTEMS DIVISION
Sales revenues in the Solar Systems division totaled EUR
8.2 million in 2012 (previous year: EUR 26.3 million). The
division thus contributed 8% of total sales revenues for the
PVA TePla Group. As in the other divisions, sales revenues
in 2012 result primarily from orders received in 2011; in the
Solar Systems division, these orders were for delivery of
crystal growing systems. There is significant overcapacity
in the global photovoltaic market. Worldwide production
capacity for PV modules is nearly 60 gigawatt. That means
the capacity to produce PV modules in 2012 was nearly
twice as high as the expected market volume. A significant
decline in prices was therefore unavoidable. Despite
these difficulties, the worldwide photovoltaic market in
2012 grew by about 15% in volume to around 30 GW. The
collapse in prices was a significant contributing factor to
the growth in the market, particularly in countries such as
the US. Photovoltaic markets are growing and diversifying.
This also leads to new opportunities in markets that were
not the focus of attention until now. In particular, the Solar
Systems division sees good sales opportunities for its
products in the short term in markets that want to expand
their own solar production due to economic policy reasons.
Nevertheless, it must also be stated that 2013 will be a
difficult year for the division.
Consolidated sales revenues by division
EUR million
134.7
56.9
120.4
58.1
132.6
26.3
49.4
103.3
8.2
51.0
38.9
38.9
33.9
28.4
57.0
44.1
2009 2010 2011 2012
Industrial Systems Semiconductor Systems Solar Systems
PVA TePla AG reported sales revenues of EUR 91.0 million
(previous year: EUR 105.9 million) in its single entity
financial statements. The decline is fundamentally attributable
to the same causes described above for the individual
divisions. In addition, there were several cases of final
customer approvals being postponed to fiscal year 2013.
6. ORDERS
6.1. INCOMING ORDERS
33
At EUR 59.2 million, total incoming orders for the Group in
fiscal year 2012 declined significantly compared to the previous
year (EUR 156.2 million). All of the Company’s divisions
fell considerably short of the previous year’s figures for
incoming orders. The book-to-bill ratio of 0.6 at Group level
(previous year: 1.2) reflects this trend. The steep decline is
attributable to significantly reduced customer willingness
to invest due, in part, to the build-up of overcapacity in recent
years. In light of the overall decline in order volume in
the relevant markets, there is no evidence that PVA TePla
has lost market share. As in the past, the Company has
proven that it can deal with strong fluctuations in incoming
orders – e.g., in 2009, when incoming orders declined to
a similar extent – through its flexible structure with a low
depth of added value.
The Industrial Systems division generated incoming orders
totaling EUR 29.3 million (previous year: EUR 59.2
million), contributing 49% to total incoming orders. Following
record incoming orders in the previous fiscal year,
incoming orders in 2012 were significantly lower. As in the
previous year, approximately 70% of orders for vacuum
systems were received from abroad, with approximately
half still coming from customers in Asia. While the vast majority
of vacuum systems were ordered in recent years by
customers from the hard metal market, this sector contributed
just 50% to systems sales in 2012. Demand decreased
considerably in 2012 due to the weaker economy – including
in China, the single most important market for hard
metal sinter systems – and due to the considerable increase
in capacity in the hard metal segment in recent years.
Customers are cautious about making large investments,
and numerous investment decisions are being postponed.
Also the product group with the second highest amount
of incoming orders in 2011 – systems for manufacturing
and thermal handing of graphite – experienced extraordinarily
low incoming orders. In this area, the difficult market
situation in the photovoltaic and semiconductor industry,
which are important customers for high-purity graphite, is
clearly evident. In contrast, incoming orders for systems
used for materials production and brazing processes in the
electrical industry nearly doubled compared with the prioryear
period. The efforts by network operators to expand
the electricity grids are noticeable in this product group.
Management and Group Management Report