WA-based solar PV company Solco is looking to take advantage of the wreckage caused by the abrupt changes in rooftop solar incentives, raising $4 million to fund a war chest to prey on weakened competitors. Director Ian Campbell, a former Coalition environment minister, said the recent collapse of SolarShop and the suspension of manufacturing at Silex reflected the shakeout in the industry. “Rather than look for acquisitions and raise money when we need it, we want to be in a strategic position to take advantage of acquisitions when the opportunities arise,” he said. “We will look at anything in the food chain.”
Solco has focused on the wholesale market, importing and distributing solar panels, but has now moved into the project development business, reflected in a recent $850,000 contract to build a 250kW array across seven buildings in the western NSW city of Parkes. Campbell says the commercial market is looking strong, with a big increase in inquiries from sporting organisations and grounds, councils and corporate customers. “In many areas of Australia it is already breaking even. We think the market will take off, to be frank, as energy prices rise and the cost of solar falls. It makes a lot of sense to lock in the price.”
However, Campbell says the household market has slumped badly, possibly with the exception of the Queensland market, the only state to leave its feed-in tariff untouched. The 2-for-7 rights issue is priced at 7c a share (Solco shares traded at 9c before the announcement and have traded as high as 13c in the past year – it has a market capitalisation of around $17 million). The issue is underwritten by Investorfirst Securities.
