Meyer Burger to halt solar plant in Colorado and plans restructuring

Meyer Burger, a Swiss solar panel manufacturer, announced on Monday that it had suspended plans for an upcoming plant in Colorado. The company said it would take restructuring measures to improve profitability and also suggested the profits might be lower than expected.

The firm issued a press release stating that "Meyer Burger Technology AG has announced that due to recent developments, the planned construction of an solar cell production facility at Colorado Springs, Colorado in the USA is no longer economically viable for the company and the project will be discontinued."

The company said that its board had requested management to develop a "comprehensive cost-cutting and restructuring program", and board member Mark Kerekes would be stepping down.

Meyer Burger announced that it would focus on its already installed module production facility in Goodyear (Arizona) following the Colorado decision.

It said that the expansion of Goodyear's nominal module production capacity by an extra 0.7 gigawatts had been suspended. It said that debt financing, previously sought through monetization 45X tax credit will be pursued at a reduced level.

Board members now expect that the firm's funding requirements will be lower, and the gap left after the April 2024 capital increase will be smaller. It added that the medium-term EBITDA goal and firm's debt level are expected to be lower than originally expected.

Meyer Burger said that its cell production facility in Thalheim, a municipality located in eastern Germany, will remain fully operational.

Meyer Burger, which has been struggling to finance its business, announced that it would delay the publication of its results until September 30 or later. (Reporting and writing by Dave Graham, Miranda Murray; editing by Tom Hogue & Michael Perry).

(source: Reuters)