Canadian Solar has finally completed its internal investigation and questioning by the Securities and Exchange Commission and reported profitable first-quarter results. The company reported a profit of US$1.5 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of US$4.8 million, or 13 cents a share in the same period of 2009. However, the latest quarter included a less-than-anticipated US$15.9 million foreign-exchange loss.
Revenue increased to US$336.9 million from US$49.5 million as shipments were 10 times the levels in 2009. The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of 7 cents a share on revenue of US$331 million.
For the fiscal second quarter, Canadian Solar sees shipments of 173MW to 177MW of product, compared with the first quarter’s 185MW. The company repeated its target for the year.
However, shares were down 1.8% after-hours at US$12.30. The stock was up 6.9% during regular trading even as the broader market slid. Through the close, shares are down 57% in the year to date.
Canadian Solar also announced that the acting president of its U.S. subsidiary, Greg Ashley, and the vice president of U.S. sales, Mike Miskovsky, have stepped down, but revealed that the internal probe found the transactions in the subpoena were properly accounted for.