Oslo, April 22, 2008: Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) reported revenue of NOK 1,771 million in the first quarter 2008, an increase of 10 percent from NOK 1,616 million in the first quarter 2007
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to NOK 742 million in the first quarter 2008, a decline of 15 percent from NOK 869 million in the first quarter 2007. The EBITDA margin of 42 percent in the first quarter 2008 compares with 54 percent in the same quarter last year.
The operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 579 million in the first quarter, compared to NOK 737 million in the same quarter in 2007, and the EBIT margin decreased to 33 percent from 46 percent.
As described in the interim report for the fourth quarter 2007, REC has entered into three major USD-denominated contracts for wafer deliveries with customers for whom USD is not the functional currency. For accounting purposes, REC needs to treat these sales contracts as if they were denominated in NOK, whereas the embedded forward purchases of USD are separated and accounted for on a fair value basis, with changes in the fair value being charged to financial items.
As a result of a further decline of USD compared with NOK in the first quarter 2008, a loss of NOK 226 million was recognized on the total contract value as a part of financial items. Of this, NOK 22 million was realized and had a positive effect on EBITDA, based on sales against these contracts in the first quarter. The accounting method has no cash flow effect and the losses will be reversed in the Income Statement over the contract periods.
Including these effects, profit before tax was NOK 327 million in the first quarter 2008, compared to NOK 634 million in the first quarter 2007.
Earnings per share were NOK 0.43 in the first quarter 2008. This compares to NOK 0.86 in the first quarter 2007, on both a basic and diluted basis.
For more information, please see the attachments on www.newsweb.no
Morning program:
REC will release its first quarter results for 2008 on Tuesday April 22, 2008 just after 07:00 AM CET.
On the release day, President and CEO Erik Thorsen of REC ASA will give a presentation and other members of the management team will also be present. The presentation will take place at 08:00 hrs Norwegian time/CET at the conference centre Oslo Konserthus, Munkedamsveien 14, 0250 Oslo (www.oslokonserthus.no).
The presentation, held in English, will be broadcasted live over the Internet, and can be accessed from: www.recgroup.com.
It will also be possible to listen to the presentation through a conference call. Please use one of the following numbers (conference ID, 5993499):
Norway free call: 800 196 40
UK free call: 0800 028 1299
USA free call: 1888 935 4577
International dial in: +44 (0)20 7806 1967
Afternoon program:
REC will further host an analyst conference call with possibilities for questions and answers later the same day at 15:00 CET. Please make sure to dial inn at least 5 minutes ahead of time to finalize your registration:
Norway free call: 800 80 119
International dial in: +47 23 00 04 00
Immediately after the call, a replay of the conference call will be made available. To access, please dial +47 67 89 40 91 and use the following procedure:
1. Type account number 1536 followed by # (pound-sign) and press 1
2. Continue by typing the conference number: 536 followed by # (pound-sign) and press 1 to play
For more information, please contact;
Jon Andre Løkke, SVP & Investor Relation Officer, +47 907 44 949
About REC
REC is uniquely positioned as one of the most integrated company in the solar energy industry. REC Silicon and REC Wafer are the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers for solar applications. REC Solar produces solar cells and solar modules and engage in project development activities in selected segments of the PV market. REC Group had revenues in 2007 of NOK 6,642 million and an operating profit of NOK 2,588 million. Please also see www.recgroup.com
