Conergy

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Conergy AG
Type Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as FWB: CGY
Industry Solar energy
Founded 1998
Headquarters Hamburg, Germany
Key people Norbert Schmelzle (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Services Solar panels, components and installation equipment; power inverters; development and installation of solar parks
Revenue €913.5 million (2010)[1]
Operating income Decrease (€13.8 million) (2010)[1]
Profit Decrease (€44.7 million) (2010)[1]
Total assets €613.4 million (end 2010)[1]
Total equity €71.4 million (end 2010)[1]
Employees 1,570 (FTE, end 2010)[1]
Website www.conergy.com

Conergy AG is a company in the solar energy industry founded in 1998 by the former chairman of the board Hans-Martin Rüter. It had a turnover of 706 Million euros in 2007, and employs more than 2000 staff. It also has a company called Conergy Americas.

Since March 2005 Conergy AG has been registered at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with the abbreviation “CGY“ and the ISIN DE 00060 40025.[2] Three months after its IPO, the company was added to the TecDAX index, in which it remained until March 2011.

By 2007 Conergy had operations in subsidiaries in 25 countries. Until its reorganization in 2008 Conergy addressed the renewable energy market via three brands, which were intended to be clearly delimited from each other. The Conergy group served solar wholesalers, installers, industrial or private roof-owners and investors in solar power as required.

Conergy is also founding member of PV CYCLE, the industry's managed take-back and recycling scheme for end-of-life PV modules in Europe.

History

Early phase

Since its foundation some 15 years ago, the company has grown from consisting of only Hans-Martin Rüter to a company present in most German cities and in Spain. It has four daughter companies that operate in the same field as the holding company: SunTechnics (founded in 1996), Conergy, AET and Voltwerk (later Epuron).

Daughter company of the same name Conergy produces, procures and distributes the products. Engineering arm SunTechnics provides revenue via project management. AET, an acquired entity functions more or less similar to Conergy, with the slight difference of target market. Conergy was catering for individual customers while AET was supposed to take care of distributors.

With this configuration, Conergy generated a revenue of over 1 billion euros in sales in 2005.

In January 2014, Conergy announced plans to move into asset ownership by establishing a tax equity fund with an initial target volume of US$100 million in order to expand its US and Canada project business by around 50MW.[3]

Strategy 50/50/08

In 2006 the company expanded into different renewable energy technologies, and formulated what it called the 50/50/08 strategy to diversify the company's attention into all renewable energy fields, with 50% of revenues from fields unrelated to solar energy, and 50% revenue from outside Germany by 2008, growing organically and via acquisition.

Before 2006 the company had around 1,500 employees; by the end of 2006, some 6 months after initiation of 50/50/08, it had approximately 2,300 employees. By mid-2007, the number reached close to 3,000. Many employees were either new or from acquired companies.

During this period, Conergy also broke ground on a high-volume PV module manufacturing plant in Frankfurt-on-Oder on the German-Polish border.

By the third quarter of 2007, cash flow became a problem. In addition, acquired companies were not fully merged in, hence revenues were not coming in. By the time for the stockholders meeting, none of the objectives of the 50/50/08 strategy had been achieved, and the company was unable to procure products for projects that were supposed to be bringing in revenue. The old management team, including Hans-Martin Ruter, stepped down and Dieter Ammer, a member of the supervisory board of Conergy, agreed to a term as interim Managing Director/CEO.

Liquidity shortfall at the end of 2007 forced the company to increase the amount of shares released to the public by around 2,000,000 shares. This raised around 70 million euros, and a further 30 million euros was acquired from banks.[4]

To address the inefficiency of the company at this point, it was decided that the company would now focus on its original core-competencies. Almost all of the previously acquired companies were either sold off, or shut down. Furthermore, an estimated 1,000 employees were laid off. In addition, the former brand strategy which was considered too complex and diluting of the global brand strength was changed and a focus at the core brand was introduced as the new strategy.

Further layoffs continued in 2009 as Conergy effectively closed its New Mexico operations in early August 2009, laying off most of its staff in the state in order to consolidate its US distribution. Its operations headquarters moved to Denver, Co. The goal of this reorganization was to reduce operating costs and organizational complexity, gain access to a more highly skilled, more diversified labor market, and respond to US market trends in the renewable energy industry. During this time, the company also closed a high cost warehouse in New Mexico and ended distribution of solar thermal, small wind systems and solar water pumping. The company completed the sale of its own solar-powered surface water pumps that had been produced by the US company since the mid-eighties in the US prior to its acquisition by Conergy.

LG

LG Electronics Inc. announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy, its first in the field of solar energy. Under the deal, set to be completed by the end of 2008, LG would acquire a 75% stake in Conergy's Frankfurt solar-panel plant.[5] However, due to the worldwide financial crisis and changes in strategic direction, LG cancelled the acquisition. [6]

MEMC silicon supply contract

MEMC Electronic Materials (MEMC), a supplier of silicon to the semi-conductor and PV industry, had entered into a contract with Conergy in 2006 to supply silicon for Conergy's new module manufacturing plant. Due to the global silicon shortage, MEMC was able to negotiate very favorable terms that Conergy's management team felt obligated to accept. When the downturn in silicon prices occurred in 2008/2009 and the new Conergy management team attempted to renegotiate a more favorable terms, MEMC was initially unwilling and Conergy brought suit. In late 2009, an agreement was reached that improved terms for Conergy and will likely have positive effects throughout the PV supply chain as other manufacturers also seek to renegotiate unfavorable supply agreements in the new economic and supply conditions.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Annual Report 2010". Conergy. Retrieved 10 April 2011. 
  2. ↑ http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/isg/gdb_navigation/home?module=InOverview_Equi&wp=DE0006040025&foldertype=_Equi
  3. ↑ http://www.pv-tech.org/news/conergys_us100_million_investment_fund_is_first_step_in_new_strategic_setup
  4. ↑ http://www.conergy.de/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-242/310_read-8475/
  5. ↑ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/lg-plots-solar-partnership-with-conergy-1395.html
  6. ↑ http://www.conergy.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-237/271_read-9596/
  7. ↑ http://www.conergy.us/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-267/236_read-10885/

External links

Solar power by country
Solar thermal power stations
Photovoltaic power stations
Germany ÖkoDAX companies of Germany (Last change: 23.10.2012)
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