The energy company Holaluz will reduce its workforce by 200 people to adapt to the "temporary slowdown in the solar market", as announced this Monday in a statement. The departures will primarily affect teams of installers, sales and solar operations support roles. The layoffs represent 27% of the workforce, made up of a total of 739 people, company sources confirm to this newspaper.
The company attributes the situation to the increase in interest rates, the cost of installation and lower prices in the energy market, which "have slowed down the decision making of residential customers about investing in solar installations." According to sector data cited by the company, the solar market has fallen between 25% and 50% compared to 2022.
Because of this drop in demand, the company has been recording declines in its business for a year. In the first half of the year, it had losses of 20.9 million euros, compared to profits of 5.5 million a year ago. From January to June, income was 156.8 million, which represents a drop of 46.75%. In the third quarter the figures continued in the same line, with a turnover of 65.4 million and net losses of 0.8 million.
In the statement, the company assures that it plans to close the year with 3,000 installations, a number similar to that of 2022, and does not specify the results forecast for the entire year. The price of Holaluz, which has operated on BME Growth since 2019, is at historic lows, with a value close to 2.60 euros. In the year it has dropped -60% and today the session started with falls of 4%.
