MEMC Electronic Materials reported a 31% sequential increase in solar materials sales, primarily from wafers, in its third-quarter results. A 20% increase in shipments and modest improvement in wafer ASPs helped sales for the group reach sales of US$503.1 million, up 12.2% from US$448.3 million in the second quarter of 2010. Its subsidiary, SunEdison, reported sales of US$21.5 million and has 1,023MW in its project pipeline, of which 155MW is under construction.
MEMC also reported a GAAP operating income of US$9.9 million for the quarter, compared to operating income of US$3.3 million in the 2010 second quarter and an operating loss of US$66.7 million in the 2009 third quarter.
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“Our third quarter results extended our recent trend of steady improvement,” said Ahmad Chatila, MEMC's CEO. “While our end-markets are dynamic, we continue to improve our execution, while continuing with strategic initiatives that will catalyze our growth in 2011 and beyond.”
However, the company expects strong revenue performance in the fourth quarter since SunEdison reached an agreement to sell the 70MW Rovigo project to First Reserve in September 2010. SunEdison has added approximately 10MW per quarter for the last four quarters to its project pipeline.
MEMC noted that third-quarter segment operating profit also included US$4.5 million in ramp-related loss from Solaicx, of which US$0.8 million was purchase accounting expenses related to the previous acquisition.
