On the strength of China’s booming demand for solar-power components, Enfield’s STR Holdings nearly doubled its third quarter income from last year on strong sales.
Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to $13.3 million, or 31 cents a share, from $7.8 million, or 21 cents a share, the same period in 2009
STR’s overall sales were $97.7 million, up 45 percent from last year’s $67.3 million.
Based on the strength of its third quarter filing, STR raised its 2010 sales forecast to $374 million from $360 million.
The company was founded in 1944 as a plastics research and development firm, but has evolved over the years into manufacturing and selling solar photovoltaic parts and providing quality assurance services.
STR said its sturdy third-quarter performance is due almost entirely to the large increase in its solar-equipment sales, which rose 93 percent to $68.3 million from $35.4 million during 2009’s third quarter. The solar industry has been growing in every market, but STR saw a 168 percent rise in its sales to Asia, particularly China.
On the quality-assurance side of its house, STR’s sales dropped to $29.5 million from $32 million in 2009.
“We are delighted to report that solar’s global sales and earnings growth once again exceeded expectations,” Dennis L. Jilot, chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “We continue to advance the China portion of our Asia growth strategy to further enhance our position in this rapidly growing market.”
