Poland: Sunex to go public by September
Becoming a publicly traded company by September: the first step of Sunex’ strategy to enter new markets and invest in a factory outside the country. The solar collector manufacturer will be listed on New Connect, the Warsaw stock market for small enterprises. In August, Sunex already sold 0.76 % of its stocks to investors through private offers, gaining about PLN 0.55 million (EUR 0.13 million). “We have decided to enter New Connect to let the market give us a valuation of our company before we get listed on the main trading floor of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE),” the company’s President, Romuald Kalyciok (see photo), explains. Further share sales are planned for 2012.
Photo: Puls Biznesu
Sunex has used the money from selling its stocks to complete its latest investment, the manufacturing site of the new Phase Change Material (PCM) tank, called PCMX tank. According to Kalyciok, PCMX tanks store five times more heat than tanks filled with water. The tank was developed by Sunex and the company pins its hopes on the new product, which uses a sodium salt as the buffer fluid. The company’s President states that the sodium salt used in PCMX tanks accumulates heat twice as fast as water up to 55 °C. In the temperature range between 55 and 80 °C, however, the saline accumulates – but also emits – heat 7 times slower than water. Thanks to this attribute, a PCMX tank with a capacity of 100 litres stores as much heat as a water reservoir with a capacity of 500 litres. Sunex started selling PCMX tanks this year in Hungary and Western Europe. Kalyciok claims the system raises a lot of interest: “The cost of a 100 litre-PCMX tank is comparable to a water reservoir with a capacity of 400 litres. We are planning to sell at least 5,000 to 7,000 units over the next 5 years”. This year, Sunex also began offering its own solar stations. According to Kalyciok, the company is going to sell between 3,000 and 4,000 of these systems in 2011.
With its newly developed products, Sunex is planning to further penetrate foreign markets. At the moment, the company sells 60 % of its solar systems to foreign distributors, primarily in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Sunex is OEM producer for brands, such as De Dietrich in Germany and France, but also sells solar systems under its own name. “This year, we decided to expand sales of our solar systems under the Sunex brand in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal. We have already hired salesmen as our offer is met with a lot of interest, but we still have to invest in new warehouses to shorten delivery times before actually selling our products,” Kalyciok explains.
As a consequence of the company’s expansion plans, Sunex also wants to invest in the manufacturing of solar systems. The company intends to sell another 15 % of its shares in public offering on the WSE next year to collect the financial resources necessary for building a new factory. “Right now, we are considering to invest in the following countries: Hungary, Romania, Belarus and India,” says Kalyciok. According to the company, the European countries just mentioned offer attractive incentives for investors. However, another possible location for the new factory would be India based on a joint venture with a local company. Huge market potential, availability of all the necessary materials and low taxes speak for this location.
Sunex’ revenue rose 33 % to PLN 14.5 million (EUR 3.49 million) in the first six months of 2011. The company expects annual revenue to reach PLN 31 million (EUR 7.47 million) and net profit PLN 0.4 million (EUR 0.1 million). Sunex will also invest up to PLN 2 million (EUR 0.48 million) this year.
More information:
http://www.sunex-solarenergy.com/
This news was written bei Marcin Czekanski, a Polish journalist specialised in renewable energies and based in Szczecin, Poland. mczekanski@econaviga.eu
