[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
COPENHAGEN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:15am EDT
Decades of potential in solar, wind: Fidelity
(Reuters) - Demand for power from China and other big countries with strong economic expansion is going to sustain the earnings growth of renewable energy companies, a Fidelity fund manager said on Wednesday.
In coming decades, few industries will be able to boast as many companies with earnings growth potential as the alternative energy sector, said Amit Lodha, who manages the $22 million Fidelity Global Real Asset Securities Fund.
Fidelity International is among the world's largest mutual fund companies with total assets under management of 148.7 billion euros ($203.2 billion).
Solar stocks, in particular, offer attractive investment opportunities, Lodha said in a statement, singling out Germany-based Wacker Chemie.
"In the solar sector I focus primarily on companies such as Wacker Chemie, which commands pricing power along the value chain," he said.
Wacker Chemie is among the leading producers of polysilicon, a key material for manufacturing of solar cells and modules.
WIND IN DEMAND
"Valuations of alternative energy companies are not too high compared with the growth they can generate," Lodha said, citing forecasts that energy consumption in China would double by 2025, having doubled between 1990 and 2006.
Wind turbines, which produce cheaper electricity than solar power plants, will also be in demand in the coming decades, not least thanks to advances in technology that will put wind on an equal footing price-wise with coal and gas, he said.
"It is not only energy utilities and wind power equipment makers such as Vestas Wind Systems that will benefit from this development but also the entire sub-contractor industry," said Lodha, whose fund tends to hold between 40 and 60 stocks.
He aims to be "primarily invested in equity securities of companies across the world that provide exposure to commodities, property, industrials, utilities, energy, materials and infrastructure," the fund's factsheet said.
Top holdings included oil companies Royal Dutch Shell, Pacific Rubiales and Anadarko Petroleum as well as Canadian gold miner Agnico-Eagle, Chinese property developer China Overseas Land and U.S. engineering conglomerate General Electric.
($1=.7318 Euro)
(Editing by Rupert Winchester)
[Green Business]
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:53am EDT
Akeena to provide installation services through Lowe's
(Reuters) - Solar power systems maker Akeena Solar Inc said it will provide installation services for customers buying its all-in-one solar panels from retailer Lowe's Cos Inc's 21 stores in California.
Shares of Akeena rose 18 percent to $1.23 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
The news comes a few months after the company started selling its Andalay solar panels at 21 Lowe's stores in California.
Akeena had said it hoped to break even by selling panels at retail stores and to installers outside its home state of California, in addition to its traditional installation business. The move puts the company in competition with the likes of SunPower Corp in selling panels.
(Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)
[Green Business]
Peter Starck
COPENHAGEN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:54am EDT
Alm Brand buys Headwaters for greentech fund
(Reuters) - Environment and renewable energy are themes in vogue among institutional investors, said Danish fund managers Alm Brand, who recently bought shares in the energy-efficient solutions company Headwaters Inc.
Alm Brand Invest's Environment Technology fund has about $33 million in assets under management (AUM).
"We have seen a stable inflow over the last year and expect that to continue since we have seen positive interest from institutional investors," Alm Brand Invest Senior Portfolio Manager, Equities, Thomas Schultz told Reuters.
U.S.-based Headwaters, whose shares have fallen more than 25 percent this year, provides products such as fly ash, an energy efficient insulation component, and services to the building and energy industries.
"We expect an increasing market for fly ash when the construction market rebounds, which will benefit the company," Schultz said.
He has also taken advantage of the recent slide in renewable energy stocks to add to the fund's holdings in the alternative energy and energy efficiency sector, which accounted for 38 percent of its AUM at end-February.
"We are still positive on the sector," Schultz said.
Recent purchases include China Longyuan Power Group Corp Ltd, the world's 5th-largest wind power generator, EDP Renovaveis, Vestas and U.S. SunPower Corp, he said.
The fund reduced its exposure to power generator maker Regal Beloit and Pall Corp, active in filtration and purification technologies, in February. Both stocks have risen more than 25 percent within the past few months, making them ripe for profit taking.
Top holdings at end-February included waste treatment project developer China Everbright International Ltd, waste collecting and treatment company Transpacific Industries, Itron Inc, which provides metering and data collection services to utilities, and automobile-parts recycler LKQ Corp.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
[Green Business]
MILAN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:59pm EDT
SunPower to supply panels for Italy project
(Reuters) - U.S. SunPower Corp will supply photovoltaic panels for a 5.23 megawatt solar power project in Italy, expanding in Europe's third-biggest solar market, its Italian partner Energy Resources said on Wednesday.
The project in the central Italian region of Marche will use 23,244 PV panels which turn sunlight into power to make enough electricity to meet demands of about 2,000 flats and cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 3,300 metric tons a year, it said in a statement.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the project. Work was due to start at the end of March and was expected to finish in October, it said.
Investors have been racing to complete PV projects in Italy by the end of this year, before the current generous incentive scheme expires.
SunPower said earlier this month it will partner Italian investment and management company K6 S.a.S. to build two 1 MW PV solar power plants in the southern region of Puglia.
SunPower operates a major Italian solar plant, the 24 MW
power plant in Montalto di Castro.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova)
[Green Business]
COPENHAGEN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:15am EDT
Decades of potential in solar, wind: Fidelity
(Reuters) - Demand for power from China and other big countries with strong economic expansion is going to sustain the earnings growth of renewable energy companies, a Fidelity fund manager said on Wednesday.
In coming decades, few industries will be able to boast as many companies with earnings growth potential as the alternative energy sector, said Amit Lodha, who manages the $22 million Fidelity Global Real Asset Securities Fund.
Fidelity International is among the world's largest mutual fund companies with total assets under management of 148.7 billion euros ($203.2 billion).
Solar stocks, in particular, offer attractive investment opportunities, Lodha said in a statement, singling out Germany-based Wacker Chemie.
"In the solar sector I focus primarily on companies such as Wacker Chemie, which commands pricing power along the value chain," he said.
Wacker Chemie is among the leading producers of polysilicon, a key material for manufacturing of solar cells and modules.
WIND IN DEMAND
"Valuations of alternative energy companies are not too high compared with the growth they can generate," Lodha said, citing forecasts that energy consumption in China would double by 2025, having doubled between 1990 and 2006.
Wind turbines, which produce cheaper electricity than solar power plants, will also be in demand in the coming decades, not least thanks to advances in technology that will put wind on an equal footing price-wise with coal and gas, he said.
"It is not only energy utilities and wind power equipment makers such as Vestas Wind Systems that will benefit from this development but also the entire sub-contractor industry," said Lodha, whose fund tends to hold between 40 and 60 stocks.
He aims to be "primarily invested in equity securities of companies across the world that provide exposure to commodities, property, industrials, utilities, energy, materials and infrastructure," the fund's factsheet said.
Top holdings included oil companies Royal Dutch Shell, Pacific Rubiales and Anadarko Petroleum as well as Canadian gold miner Agnico-Eagle, Chinese property developer China Overseas Land and U.S. engineering conglomerate General Electric.
($1=.7318 Euro)
(Editing by Rupert Winchester)
[Green Business]
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:53am EDT
Akeena to provide installation services through Lowe's
(Reuters) - Solar power systems maker Akeena Solar Inc said it will provide installation services for customers buying its all-in-one solar panels from retailer Lowe's Cos Inc's 21 stores in California.
Shares of Akeena rose 18 percent to $1.23 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
The news comes a few months after the company started selling its Andalay solar panels at 21 Lowe's stores in California.
Akeena had said it hoped to break even by selling panels at retail stores and to installers outside its home state of California, in addition to its traditional installation business. The move puts the company in competition with the likes of SunPower Corp in selling panels.
(Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)
[Green Business]
Peter Starck
COPENHAGEN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:54am EDT
Alm Brand buys Headwaters for greentech fund
(Reuters) - Environment and renewable energy are themes in vogue among institutional investors, said Danish fund managers Alm Brand, who recently bought shares in the energy-efficient solutions company Headwaters Inc.
Alm Brand Invest's Environment Technology fund has about $33 million in assets under management (AUM).
"We have seen a stable inflow over the last year and expect that to continue since we have seen positive interest from institutional investors," Alm Brand Invest Senior Portfolio Manager, Equities, Thomas Schultz told Reuters.
U.S.-based Headwaters, whose shares have fallen more than 25 percent this year, provides products such as fly ash, an energy efficient insulation component, and services to the building and energy industries.
"We expect an increasing market for fly ash when the construction market rebounds, which will benefit the company," Schultz said.
He has also taken advantage of the recent slide in renewable energy stocks to add to the fund's holdings in the alternative energy and energy efficiency sector, which accounted for 38 percent of its AUM at end-February.
"We are still positive on the sector," Schultz said.
Recent purchases include China Longyuan Power Group Corp Ltd, the world's 5th-largest wind power generator, EDP Renovaveis, Vestas and U.S. SunPower Corp, he said.
The fund reduced its exposure to power generator maker Regal Beloit and Pall Corp, active in filtration and purification technologies, in February. Both stocks have risen more than 25 percent within the past few months, making them ripe for profit taking.
Top holdings at end-February included waste treatment project developer China Everbright International Ltd, waste collecting and treatment company Transpacific Industries, Itron Inc, which provides metering and data collection services to utilities, and automobile-parts recycler LKQ Corp.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
[Green Business]
MILAN
Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:59pm EDT
SunPower to supply panels for Italy project
(Reuters) - U.S. SunPower Corp will supply photovoltaic panels for a 5.23 megawatt solar power project in Italy, expanding in Europe's third-biggest solar market, its Italian partner Energy Resources said on Wednesday.
The project in the central Italian region of Marche will use 23,244 PV panels which turn sunlight into power to make enough electricity to meet demands of about 2,000 flats and cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 3,300 metric tons a year, it said in a statement.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the project. Work was due to start at the end of March and was expected to finish in October, it said.
Investors have been racing to complete PV projects in Italy by the end of this year, before the current generous incentive scheme expires.
SunPower said earlier this month it will partner Italian investment and management company K6 S.a.S. to build two 1 MW PV solar power plants in the southern region of Puglia.
SunPower operates a major Italian solar plant, the 24 MW
power plant in Montalto di Castro.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova)
※コメント投稿者のブログIDはブログ作成者のみに通知されます