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- 2005-7-20
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发表于 2006-5-16 16:32
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Solar group REC shines on debut
Tue May 9, 2006 8:30 AM ET
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
OSLO (Reuters) - Shares in Norwegian solar power firm Renewable Energy Corp (REC) (REC.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) soared on their debut on Tuesday, giving one of the world's leaders in exploiting the sun as an alternative to oil a value of $9.3 billion.
Buoyed by prospects for stellar growth, REC shares traded at 115.75 Norwegian crowns ($18.79) per share by 1153 GMT, up 22 percent from an initial public offering (IPO) at 95 crowns which was already at the top of an indicated range.
REC said the offering, Norway's largest since oil group Statoil (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) was listed in 2001 and among the top 10 IPOs in the world so far this year by raising $1.08 billion, was 15 times oversubscribed.
"We've seen very great interest for REC, as for the entire solar energy business," chief Executive Erik Thorsen told a presentation at the Oslo bourse, beside two REC solar panels.
Founded in 1996 and with 1,100 staff, REC calls itself the world's biggest integrated solar power group. It says it is the biggest maker of solar-grade silicon and of multi-crystalline wafers, and among the top 20 makers of solar cells and modules.
Thorsen said other wafer and panel makers were hindered by a lack of access to solar-grade silicon. "We are not dependent on other suppliers to generate growth," he said.
Rivals include SolarWorld (SWVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Q-Cells (QCEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Suntech (STP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Sunpower (SPWR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and ErSol (ES6G.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).
Among specialist silicon producers are Hemlock, Wacker Chemie (WCHG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), with a market capitalization of $6.3 billion, and MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), worth $10.2 billion.
"The position of REC is probably the best in the industry with its upstream integration," said Ottar Haugerud, an analyst at SEB Enskilda. "Others will follow but for the next three to five years, REC is probably uniquely placed."
GROWTH OUTLOOK "FORMIDABLE"
"The solar market offers formidable growth prospects," Thorsen said, projecting that solar energy could be the main source of power by 2100, eclipsing fossil fuels and other renewable energies such as wind or hydropower.
He said REC was aiming to outstrip growth in the overall solar market and cut costs by 50 percent over five years. Solar stocks have been popular with oil prices above $70 a barrel.
President George W. Bush has spoken of breaking a U.S. addiction to oil and many other rich nations are seeking to cut use of fossil fuels to reach goals under the UN's Kyoto Protocol to restrict emissions of heat-trapping gases.
In 2005, REC had revenues of 2.5 billion Norwegian crowns, up 93 percent from 2004, and net profit of 3.9 million crowns.
Norway's DnB NOR Markets recently projected REC's net profit would soar to 1.12 billion crowns in 2007, giving a price/earnings ratio of 47 -- far above an average 13.7 for big companies on the Oslo bourse.
"REC'S received a strong reception," said Bruce Diesen, a strategist at Handelsbanken Markets. REC is the sixth biggest stock on the Oslo bourse, behind food-to media group Orkla (ORK.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) and ahead of cruise group Royal Caribbean (RCL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research).
Thorsen said that solar power was becoming competitive with other energy in Japan, where electricity is expensive, but lagging in major markets such as Germany and the United States. "We believe it will be competitive in five to six years," he said.
REC is based in sun-starved Norway partly because the Nordic nation has long traditions in producing metals -- including silicon -- thanks to abundant hydropower built a century ago.
REC sold 73 million new shares in the IPO, giving gross proceeds to REC of 6.91 billion crowns. In addition, 1.6 million existing shares were sold by shareholder Rebelijo Invest AS. REC has 494 million shares outstanding.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
全产业链的太阳能公司 shines !!!
[ 本帖最后由 qinjiayu 于 2006-5-16 16:36 编辑 ] |
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