SMA Solar Suffers Loss Amid Weak Home And Business Demand

• German inverter giant SMA slides to €42.4 million H1 loss as inventory write-downs and sluggish residential sales overshadow utility-scale growth.

Germany’s SMA Solar Technology has reported a first-half net loss of €42.4 million, reversing a €44.1 million profit a year earlier as residential and commercial rooftop demand faltered and the company booked heavy inventory write-offs. Revenue fell nine percent to €684.9 million, with the Home & Business Solutions division plunging more than 48 percent year-on-year to €116 million. 

Chief executive Jürgen Reinert blamed a “perfect storm” of soft German installation figures, aggressive price competition from Asian rivals and distributors saddled with excess stock that is clearing “painfully slowly.” The downturn forced SMA to recognise about €50 million in inventory impairments and purchase-contract provisions, plus €7.5 million in doubtful-receivables charges, pushing earnings before interest and tax to a negative €19 million.

CFO Kaveh Rouhi said management is weighing further cost-optimisation steps if home-segment conditions deteriorate, but stressed that SMA’s utility-scale Large Scale & Project Solutions arm remains a bright spot, with sales rising to €568.8 million on robust orders from the Middle East and North America. Total order backlog stood at €1.16 billion on 30 June, down 14 percent year-on-year yet still covering roughly three-quarters of the firm’s revised 2025 revenue guidance.

That guidance, trimmed in May and now reiterated, calls for full-year turnover of €1.5 billion–€1.55 billion and EBITDA of €70 million–€80 million. Reinert cautioned, however, that volatility around EU customs policy and the recently enacted U.S. OBBB tax act could weigh on second-half orders.

SMA’s share price has halved since January amid broader inverter-sector malaise, but analysts note the company’s strong balance sheet—bolstered by last year’s €80 million EBITDA—and its early move into battery and hybrid inverters position it to rebound once household demand normalises.

Management said the focus for the remainder of 2025 will be tightening working-capital loops, scaling its new 5-GW assembly line in Niestetal and accelerating product launches aimed at commercial self-consumption markets, where payback periods remain attractive despite falling feed-in tariffs.