Germany’s SMA’s Sights Still Set On 2025 Turnaround

German inverter, energy storage and EV charger manufacturer SMA has posted preliminary, non-audited figures for 2024 – and the results aren’t particularly pretty compared to 2023.

Sales for 2024 came to €1,530.0 million compared to 2023’s €1,904.1 million – that’s a drop of 19.7%. But it was still much better than 2022’s dismal €1,065.9 million, and sales were even worse for at least 3 years prior to that. Net income in 2024 fell to −€117.7 million (2023: €225.7 million).

Pointing the finger at lower demand and remaining high inventories at distributors; SMA indicates two of its three segments had a horrid run for sales in 2024:

• Home Solutions: €170.3 million (2023: €580.2 million)
• Commercial & Industrial Solutions : €183.8 million (2023: €478.9 million)

SMA says it intends merging these two segments to form a new division named “Home & Business Solutions” sometime in the first half this year. CEO Jürgen Reinert is expecting sales from the new division in 2025 will be significantly higher than 2024, “but will not yet reach the break-even point”.

On a much brighter note, sales in the Large Scale & Project Solutions segment went gangbusters – up from €845.0 million in 2023 to €1,175.8 million in 2024. SMA is expecting a little more growth in the Large Scale & Project Solutions division this year.

Once A Darling Of Home Solar, Now A Battler

SMA has been struggling for some years and is currently working towards significantly reducing its cost base and simplifying its corporate structure/management. In September 2024, SMA’s Managing Board embarked on a new cost saving program – meaning more jobs were likely to go among other things. SMA also has intentions of pulling of countries with low growth potential.

Founded in 1981, the company has a general reputation for manufacturing high quality solar gear. SMA solar inverter reviews here on SQ have averaged 4.6 stars based on 1488 ratings overall, and 4.8 stars in the last 12 months – but from just 26 ratings in that period. In this year’s SolarQuotes Installers Choice Awards for the best solar inverters in 2025, SMA didn’t even rank in the top 10.

Once the inverter of choice for many Australian installers and households – particularly early on in our rooftop revolution – SMA was then challenged by good quality and cheaper solar inverters coming out of China¹. And then they joined the club.

While stating in 2018 that it was exiting manufacturing in China, some SMA inverters are still made there today. For example, Chinese production is mentioned in tiny print on the Sunny Boy 3.0 / 3.6 / 4.0 / 5.0 / 6.0 datasheet on the last page at the very bottom in the right-hand margin.

Mr. Reinert is maintaining a positive outlook about the company’s future; as you’d expect him to.

“With the group-wide restructuring and transformation program, we are laying the foundation for profitable growth in the future,” he said. “We expect to see the first positive effects from the defined measures in the 2025 fiscal year.”

No doubt shareholders, staff, installers and end-users are hoping for the same. The first group seemed encouraged by the report, with shares jumping from around € 13.77 before the announcement to €18.32 as at mid-afternoon yesterday.

SMA’s Board expects the Group to generate sales of between €1,500 million and €1,650 million this year.

Concerning the job losses foreshadowed last year, negotiations with Germany’s Works Council regarding a voluntary program wrapped up at the beginning of last month, with implementation commencing shortly after. As for the number of employees participating in the program or expected to, those details weren’t mentioned. Overall, the company aims to find savings of €150 to 200 million by 2026.

Related: How To Choose A Good Solar Inverter