Taking into account all non-recurring and special effects, Q-Cells is reporting EBIT of -€163.8m (Q2: -€62.3m). The corresponding result is a loss of €248.2m (Q2: €-305.0m) for the third quarter and a loss of €945.1m for the first 9 months of the year.

The job losses are part of Q-Cell’s reorganisation to reduce costs. The 500 jobs are in production and administration.

Including project business, Q-Cell sales revenues across the group amounts to €184.1m. This corresponds to a 30% increase compared with Q2 (€141.4m). The figure for the first 9 months of 2009 is €550.3m (2008: €931.9m).

The sharp decline in sales year-on-year is mainly caused by the drastic fall in prices on the international market for solar cells and is reflected accordingly in the operating income of Q-Cells, the solar manufacturer says.

The volume of solar cells sold to external customers rose by 87% to 103 MWp compared with the previous quarter. A further volume of 21 MWp was delivered to the Q-Cells’ own International project business. The total production volume in the third quarter was 119.4 MWp (Q2: 117.8 MWp), Q-Cells reports.