Meyer Burger is implementing the restructuring announced at the end of August. The struggling Bernese solar cell manufacturer will cut around 200 of its approximately 1,050 jobs by the end of 2025. Managing Director Gunter Erfurt is leaving the company and will be replaced with immediate effect by Chairman of the Board of Directors Franz Richter.
The restructuring should enable Meyer Burger to return to profitability, the company based in Gwatt, near Thun, wrote on Wednesday. As announced at the end of August, the group will focus on production activities at the sites of Thalheim, in the German municipality of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, around thirty kilometres north of Leipzig, for cells, and Goodyear, in the US state of Arizona, for modules, while the technological capacities of the other plant across the Rhine, in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, will be maintained.
The reduction in staff, which is expected to be accompanied by layoffs, concerns the entire structure of the group, indicated in a conference call the chairman of the board of directors and now CEO, Franz Richter. While the number of employees is to be reduced by the end of 2025 to around 850 employees, the job cuts in Europe, particularly in the administrative area, will be offset by the creation of – unquantified – positions in the United States, in order to reach full production capacity at Goodyear.
The target revenue of between 350 and 400 million francs and a gross operating surplus (EBITDA) of several tens of millions by 2026 is based primarily on the production capacity that is already largely available and on existing long-term purchase contracts with major customers, said the Meyer Burger strongman. Last year, sales reached 135 million.
Funding sought
Beyond its refocusing, the group intends to generate additional revenues through the sale of equipment related to the Colorado Springs solar cell production plant project, which was the origin of the reorientation. Meyer Burger has not managed to finalize the collaboration planned for this purpose with an American technology group, due to rising costs.
In addition, liquidity in the operational business must continue to be supported by sales of solar modules from current inventories as well as the disposal of other assets. Various avenues, from banks and other partners, are currently being analyzed to close the remaining financing gap, noted Franz Richter.
Outgoing CEO Gunter Erfurt will continue to advise the Board of Directors. Formerly head of technology at Meyer Burger, Gunter Erfurt led the transformation of the Bernese Oberland company from a system supplier to a manufacturer of solar cells and modules in a challenging environment, the group emphasizes.
Meyer Burger’s plans struggled to convince investors, while analysts questioned the company’s survival. On the Swiss stock exchange at around 10:20 a.m., the Bernese group’s shares collapsed by 4.2% to 1.84 francs, while the broader SPI index lost 0.43%.
>> Also read: Will Switzerland lose all its jobs in photovoltaics?
ats/jfe
