News

Sector movers: PV Crystalox margins improve

19 May 2008 14:48:00

Silicon wafers maker PV Crystalox Solar said it "confidently" expects EBIT to be "significantly" above the levels of last year.

Improvements in the utilisation of silicon feedstock have led to higher gross margins in the first four months of the year compared to the second half of 2007.

The group said performance remains strong with turnover in its core silicon products business "significantly" ahead of the levels achieved in the first half of last year.

It anticipates wafer shipment volume for the first half of 2008 will be in the range 105-115MW.

"As stated in our preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2007 the market drivers for the business remain positive with forecasts for the level of PV installations over the coming years showing very strong growth," said the group.

It said construction of its polysilicon production facility in Bitterfeld Germany remains on schedule and it continues negotiations regarding long-term wafer supply agreements with potential customers.

Broker downgrades are weighing on aerospace and defence firm Cobham and supermarket J Sainsbury. The former was downgraded from "buy" to "neutral" by UBS while ING changed its view on Sainsbury from "hold" to "sell", with a price target of 340p, down from 420p.

Another defence firm feeling the heat is BAE Systems after chairman Sir Nigel Rudd and chief executive Mike Turner were detained briefly last week by US officials investigating allegations of corruption by the UK defence company.

The latest in a long succession of poor housing surveys has sent mortgage banks lower, with HBOS, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley all under pressure, but Royal Bank of Scotland is the biggest casualty after a Goldman Sachs downgrade.

Top performing sectors so far today
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 2,280.00 +2.96%
Personal Goods 8,526.80 +2.17%
Automobiles & Parts 5,018.10 +1.76%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 7,449.70 +1.76%
Oil & Gas Producers 9,140.40 +1.63%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals 10,245.70 -2.35%
Banks 7,752.50 -1.56%
Food & Drug Retailers 4,907.00 -1.30%
Real Estate 3,264.50 -1.22%
Aerospace and Defence 3,324.80 -1.04%

All data suppied by Digital Look (15 minute delay)




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