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Bonn / Hillsboro, April 29, 2008. Sustainability and climate protection are elementary components of SolarWorld’s corporate development. Among 200 stock-listed public limited companies, SolarWorld was awarded by the University of Münster ,Germany, and the Deloitte management consulting firm for its sustainability reporting with the first place. A current study on the integration of non-financial performance indicators in the financial reporting of the 2006 fiscal year (the so-called Sustainable Development Key Performance Indicators / SD-KPIs) assessed SolarWorld AG as the best German company when it came to the reporting of these indicators. In the Management Report subject to statutory audit the company had primarily emphasized the importance of the sparing use of resources, energy efficiency and fair employee relations as the crucial criteria of successful company-wide economic management.
Increased attention in the capital market
The demands of Sustainable Development (SD) Management on industry and society have increased by leaps and bounds worldwide in the last few years. In addition to financial factors like sales and earnings figures non-financial performance indicators have increasingly been determining corporate success. Environmental and social factors are used more and more frequently by the capital market to assess the business situation, the expected development as well as the evaluation of the company’s risks and opportunities. Non-financial performance indicators like for example the energy and GHG intensity of production but also the quality of the working conditions for the employees may have substantial financial repercussions for the company.
Frank Asbeck: „Climate protection is a value contribution.“
„SolarWorld AG has strategically committed itself to a sustainable corporate development. We view climate protection as a value contribution to society and to us as a company“, says Dipl.-Ing. Frank H. Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. “We pursue an integrated approach that takes the economic, ecological and social factors into consideration on an equal footing.“ For fiscal year 2007 SolarWorld AG even went one step further by publishing for the first time an integrated and audited Group Management and Sustainability Report which was prepared in line with the international standards for sustainable reporting (Global Reporting Initiative/ GRI). “Over and above this we as a company from an industrialized nation have responsibility for a fair social development also in poorer regions. Under the umbrella ‚Solar2World’ we pool not-for-profit projects for the rural electrification with solar power. We will further sharpen our business profile in the future with our claim of a high level of environmental and social compatibility lastingly substantiating the economic success and value of SolarWorld AG at the same time“.
SolarWorld marketing acclaimed
The value of a fair and sustainable business policy is also reflected in the marketing of a company. “The cultivation of customer communications is as much part of this as the permanent integration of market information. The objective is to permanently keep product quality and customer satisfaction at the highest level“, says Dipl.-Wirtschaftsingenieur Frank Henn, Vice President Sales of SolarWorld AG. A joint study by the Chair of Innovative Brand Management of the University of Bremen and by BBDO Consulting has paid tribute to this strategy making SolarWorld AG the Number 3 of the most market-oriented companies in Germany among the 282 publicly quoted companies investigated within the framework of the Best Practice Marketing Award 2008. In this context business success and the quality of marketing were assessed together. BBDO explains the awarding: “SolarWorld convinces with top technology and quality leadership in all fields of application. The completely integrated solar value chain and the individual product labels strengthen the market position of the group.”
About SolarWorld Group: The SolarWorld Group of companies (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a world leader in high quality solar power products and technology. SolarWorld is involved in every step of the solar value chain from raw silicon to turn-key solar power systems and is active in growing solar markets around the world. The group is exclusively dedicated to the core business of solar photovoltaic products and technology, operating production facilities in Germany and the USA. These factories supply sales offices in Germany, Spain, USA, South Africa and Singapore. SolarWorld is currently tooling up the USA’s largest solar wafer and cell production facility in Oregon to help serve the growing demand in the Americas. SolarWorld supplies solar silicon wafers to the international solar cell industry as well as modules, kits and turnkey PV systems to distributors and retailers world-wide. The SolarWorld Group also sells off-grid solar power solutions that make an important contribution to the sustainable economic growth of developing countries. Under the name Solar2World the group has pooled this ethical commitment to a sustainable future through solar energy.
The SolarWorld Group employs more than 2,000 people worldwide. The company’s stock (SWV.de) trades on the Frankfurt and Xetra exchanges and is included in the technology index TecDAX, in the ÖkoDAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI index as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
Contact:
Anne Schneider
SolarWorld Group
PR & Marketing
25300 Evergreen Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124
Mobile: +1 805 4447425
Office: +1 503 8443417
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