Evergreen Revenues Up 135 % For the Quarter, 0ver 250
% Year to Date
Evergreen Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR), a company that manufacturers solar products based on
its cost-optimized String Ribbon wafer technology, reported that its second quarter revenues for the period ended July 2,
2005 were $10.7 million, up 135 percent over its second quarter for the same period last year, which came in at $4.8 million.
Year-to-date the revenue increase was even greater. So far this year the company reports total revenue of $21.2 million compared
to $7.9 million for the same period last year.
The CEO of Evergreen, Richard M. Feldt, discussed the company operations
and operational results in detail, "During the second quarter, Evergreen Solar continued to execute on plan as the Company
delivered solid financial results and made significant progress with its EverQ venture. In the quarter, we achieved record
product revenue while continuing to use factory capacity for our technology development programs. In addition, we increased
our product gross margins despite the negative effect that the strengthening dollar had on our sales."
Mr. Feldt also commented on the progress of the company’s
new solar factory and associated funding from the German government, "We also continued to work closely with Q-Cells and made
substantial headway on our state-of-the-art 30-megawatt manufacturing plant in Thalheim, Germany. During the quarter, EverQ
successfully completed the design and engineering phase, and received notification that, subject to certain conditions, it
would obtain German government grants to fund approximately $33 million of the factory's construction costs. In July, EverQ
broke ground on the facility, grew its first test wafers in Germany, and Evergreen and EverQ secured silicon agreements that
are expected to ensure our combined needs for the next 18 months."
The silicon shortage has been a problem for solar companies as demand
increases around the world. Mr. Feldt indicated though that the company’s ribbon manufacturing process promises to reduce
the company’s silicon consumption requirements by about half, "We will continue to advance our technology in the quarters
ahead as we pursue our goal of becoming the low-cost producer of solar power products. We have a number of promising
technologies under development to further reduce the variable costs of producing solar panels. In Marlboro, we will be working
to enhance our breakthrough thin ribbon manufacturing process, which would reduce our silicon consumption by approximately
half. Our goal of beginning to transition our current production to thin wafers by year-end is unchanged."
According to Mr. Feldt, the company has a substantial cash position
as a result of a recent note offering, "We recently raised $90 million through an offering of convertible subordinated notes
and ended the quarter with nearly $155 million in cash and marketable securities. While we are still developing our plans,
this financing affords us a level of flexibility to consider various growth initiatives, such as accelerating some research
and development programs, pursuing additional partnerships or funding the anticipated future expansion of our EverQ facility
to 120 megawatts."
