The funds will help the company grab a larger share of the renewable energy market in the Balkans, with some of the capital to be channelled to build new logistic centres for delivery of solar panels, inverters and roof structures in Bulgaria and Romania, AmonRa Energy said in a statement.
The comany's first new centre, its second one in Bulgaria, will cover some 3,000 sq m and will be built near Stara Zagora, in south central Bulgaria. With construction pencilled to start at the beginning or middle of 2023, this facility will supply the region of eastern Bulgaria.
A logistic centre in Bucharest is set to be developed at the end of 2023, to be followed by the construction of a second one in the Romanian city of Cluj within 18 to 24 months.
AmonRa Energy is transferring its 2,200 sq m flagship logistical centre from Sofia to Dragoman, closer to the border with Serbia.
The Romanian market accounts for a little under 10% of the company's sales, while North Macedonia and Greece have a share of about 3%.
"The market in Romania is four to six times larger than that in Bulgaria, and it can hardly be covered by just one logistics centre for solar systems," AmonRa Energy's founder and CEO Dimitar Beleliev said. He added that competition in Greece is greater than in Romania, but AmonRa Energy can offer the Greek solar market more competitive prices for equipment.
AmonRa Energy focuses on small and medium solar installations, on residential buildings or smaller and mid-sized enterprises, but it is in that segment where it expects the highest level of demand.
"Currently, we are the only company in Bulgaria with such a business focus. We may remain the only one. Large companies are not interested in building small and medium-sized solar plants, whereas smaller companies are unlikely to undergo dramatic growth in the short term," Beleliev added.
In the nine months through September, AmonRa Energy booked net profit of 6.6 million levs on standalone sales of some 39 million levs. Consolidating the results of its installation and maintenance subsidiary CERB Solar, AmonRa Energy expects to generate full-year profit of a little under 10 million levs on consolidated turnover of over 50 million levs.
"It is clear that investors in Bulgaria are increasingly interested in green energy produced from renewable energy sources. In the medium term, this will provide the necessary positive boost to the green transformation of our country's economy", Bulgarian Stock Exchange executive director Manyu Moravenov said in a separate statement
The bourse admitted to trading a temporary issuance of up to 1,259,100 AmonRa Energy shares priced at 12.40 apiece.
The company had determined a threshold of 200,000 shares sold to declare the offering successful, aiming to raise 15.6 million levs, according to an earlier statement.
