Solar industry's pain in Spain

By Bryce Elder and Neil Hume
Published: July 2 2008 03:00

Solar industry operators fell after the Spanish secretary of energy proposed a lower than expected cap on annual solar installations.
Spain is estimated to buy between a fifth and a quarter of solar panels produced this year as sun farm operators have rushed to exploit a loophole in green legislation.
If the new tariffs stick, Spanish demand could drop to 4 per cent of supply, analysts at Jeffries said. "The solar industry [may have] slain the Spanish golden goose," said the broker.
Renesola fell 7.3 per cent to 415p. PV Crystalox Solar was down 0.1 per cent from 198¾p, having hit a record high in the previous session.
Aero Inventory gained 1.2 per cent to 574p amid rumours that Bridgepoint had formally tabled an indicative cash offer. The aerospace parts supplier said last month it had received a preliminary bid proposal.
Tanfield , the electric vehicle maker, warned that sales had deteriorated and that cash reserves were down to £11m after a £17m outflow in six months.
The company, whose shares had halved inside a week, dropped a further 82.7 per cent to 5½p. "The fear in the market will be that the company will run out of cash fairly soon," Daniel Stewart analyst Mike Stoddart said.
Melorio , a vocational training business, was up 1.9 per cent to 82½p after five directors bought stock.
Magazine publisher Future was marked higher by 7.8 per cent to 27¾p after several large trades were recorded. Dealers dismissed the significance, saying a market-maker had been rearranging its holding.
Eros International gained 2.7 per cent to 290p after Citigroup added the Bollywood film maker to its "buy" list.
Richard Taylor, analyst, envisaged some "serious risks" in Eros stock, including a small free float, opaque reporting methods and a possible capital raising in India. But these worries were outweighed by the potential for 27 per cent compound annual earnings growth to 2011, he said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008