Switzerland’s Komax Group Looks Like an Interesting Player in Both Solar & Efficiency Sectors
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
After over a year of publication, EnergyTechStocks.com has yet to hear an energy expert mention Komax Holding AG, a Swiss company that trades on the SWX Swiss Exchange. Likely that’s about to change. Komax, the world’s largest maker of wire processing machines, increasingly is moving into two of the fastest growing energy technology sectors – solar power and automobile fuel efficiency.
Komax recently reported that its orders in hand rose nearly 16% in the first half of 2008 over the prior year in large part because of steadily rising demand for its machines that wire silicon cells and solder them into panels. The company reportedly has seen its solar-cell business quadruple since it entered the market in 2000, and further growth seems assured given the company plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, the company also recently reported that, “Demand in the first half of the year far outstripped expectations, especially in the automotive sector.” The company explained that, “This is partly because petrol consumption can be reduced by increasing the number of electronic devices and controllers on board a vehicle – with stop-go automation a key feature.”
As EnergyTechStocks has reported, so-called “stop-start” technology enables a car or truck engine to automatically shut off when a vehicle comes to a stop at, say, a red light, and then automatically turn on again when the driver touches the gas pedal. European automakers especially are equipping more vehicles with stop-start, providing greater business for a company like Komax. (For more on stop-start, see Bosch And Valeo Both Look Like Winners In Installing Fuel-Saving Stop-Start Tech in Cars.)
Overall, Komax reported a first half sales gain of 2.6%, after currency adjustments, and a profit decline of 2.3%, which the company blamed on finance costs arising from exchange rate movements.
