Schott Solar eyes spot on German technology index
FRANKFURT, Sept 8 (Reuters) - German solar technology company Schott Solar wants to join competitors such as Q-Cells (QCEG.DE) and SolarWorld (SWVG.DE) on Germany's TecDAX technology index .TECDAX, it said on Monday.
The company hopes to raise 477 million euros ($684 million) in net proceeds through an initial public offering later this month, which would be the biggest in Deutsche Boerse's (DB1Gn.DE) prime standard segment so far this year.
In addition to the listing, moving up into the TecDAX index depends on market capitalisation and the volume of stocks traded.
German solar technology company SMA Solar Technologies (S92G.DE) was last week chosen by Deutsche Boerse to join the TecDAX, less than three months after listing in the prime standard segment in late June.
Schott Solar, a unit of German technology company Schott, plans to list on Sept. 19 at the earliest, and the IPO comes amid strong investor demand for renewable energy assets and despite ongoing difficulties in the global credit markets.
"Indeed, the current market environment is not particularly thrilling at the moment in the sense that the curve is going up," Chief Executive Martin Heming told a news conference. But he said the company would deliver a convincing performance.
Chief Financial Officer Juergen Kaiser-Gerwens declined to give a financial outlook for 2009 but said: "The third quarter was no flash in the pan".
The company's third-quarter sales more than doubled to 148 million euros year-on-year, while earnings before interest and tax for the same period rose to 22.5 million, almost equalling the 26 million it posted for the whole of 2007. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz, editing by Will Waterman)
