Soltec enters pre-insolvency as Spanish regulator halts share trading – SPE

By pv magazine Spain

Spain’s CNMV has suspended trading in Soltec shares until it publishes its financial results for the first half of 2024.

Soltec, which is active in tracker manufacturing, project development and PV asset management, has said the delay is due to a detailed investigation it is conducting with the help of its auditor Ernst & Young.

Soltec said that “this assessment requires additional controls and analysis to adequately reflect certain impacts on the margins of certain projects.” Reference is also made to an adjustment in the valuation of operating assets in Brazil as a result of a strategic decision to sell them.

The company said it estimates revenue for the first half of 2024 at between €250 million (€278.4 million) and €260 million. It added that it will publish results for the first six months of the year once the ongoing study is completed.

On April 1, the company informed the CNMV of discrepancies in its consolidated annual accounts for 2023. It also declared itself pre-insolvent in order to negotiate with financial institutions that are creditors of Soltec Energías Renovables and to consider a possible payment suspension prevent.

It said the aim is to finalize a restructuring agreement that will guarantee its future, as one bank has decided not to renew a tacit extension of a €90 million syndicated loan and a €110 million credit line. That said, the company expressed confidence in reaching an agreement with creditors to resolve the current situation.

In August, Soltec restructured its management team, appointing new CEO Marcos Sáez Nicolás and firing founder Raúl Morales as executive president. It also reduced the size of the management committee and appointed Mikel de Irala as Chief Operating Officer and Andrés Carretero as Chief Investment Officer.

Soltec went public in October 2020. In the first half of 2023 results, the company reported a 44.6% increase in losses.