Updated: There were no obvious surprises in Suntech’s first-quarter financial results. Total net revenues were US$877.0 million, a decline of 7.2%, while shipments were only down 3.1% sequentially, but increased 62.9% year-over-year. In line with other major PV module manufacturers, Suntech noted the weak demand scenario in Italy due to the FiT review and overall challenging environment and pricing pressure. Suntech reiterated that it expected to ship 2.2GW of modules in 2011, but due to pricing pressure, the top end of its revenue guidance was reduced by US$100 million to a range of US$3.3 billion to US$3.5 billion.
First quarter revenue and shipments at Hanwha SolarOne increased sequentially, adding to a growing theme that low-cost PV manufacturers can still find customers, despite weak demand. Total net revenues were US$335.2 million, an increase of 3.9% from 4Q10 and an increase of 48.7% from 1Q10. PV module shipments, including module processing services, reached 248.5 MW, an increase of 13.6% from 218.8 MW in 4Q10 and an increase of 65.0% from 1Q10. However, ASP declines and slightly higher material costs resulted in gross margins falling to 16.3% down from 20.3% in 4Q10.
A veteran sales manager, Daniel Priem has been appointed as director of business development and sales for PV module mounting specialist, Zep Solar in Europe. The highly praised Zep mounting system has already attracted licenses from Canadian Solar, Centrosolar, Eco-Kinetics, ET Solar, Trina Solar and Upsolar. Priem has been tasked with penetrating key European regions, including Germany, Italy and the UK.
A thirty-year veteran to the financial management business, Surendra Kumar Gupta will be bringing his experience to his new CFO position with Azure Power. As a member of the company’s executive team, he will support operational and business development financing, project initiatives, create business plans and help advise the board of directors.
With its shift from cell producer to module producer virtually complete, China Sunergy produced first-quarter 2011 results in line with the fourth quarter of 2010, except in relation to higher inventory and falling module prices. Net income crashed 77.3% to US$3.5 million compared to the previous quarter net income of US$15.4 million. Revenue increased to US$165.7 million, a 58.9% increase year-on-year over Q1 2010 but a slight decrease of 2.3% over the fourth quarter of 2010.
A common criticism of installing PV systems, large and small in Greece has been the bureaucratic red tape that had cased many projects to be delayed by several years, limiting the appeal of the country’s FiT and resulting in a standstill for most projects. According to BSW-Solar and PV LEGAL, concerted efforts to unwind the red tape, have had some significant success recently.
The stalled Italian PV market had a noticeable effect on Yingli Green's figures for the first quarter. Module shipments decreased by a low teen percentage from Q4 2010 with revenue reported for Q1 2011 at US$527.3 million, compared to US$616.1 million in Q4 2010. Gross profit was US$144.1 million, representing a gross margin of 27.3% and an operating margin of 16.5%. However, Yingli expects shipments to increase by more than 30% in Q2 and reiterated previous guidance of module shipments of between 1.7 and 1.75GW in 2011.
Bulgaria’s solar industry is facing the threat of stagnation, after the Government unveiled a new renewable energy bill that could cut industry subsidies by as much as 30%. The feed-in tariff (FiT) reductions were part of a wider set of cuts to the renewable sector, which have been introduced to help the country meet its EU 2020 targets.
After losing out to the tune of US$6.1 million or US$1.61 per share in the first quarter of 2010, DayStar Technologies has reported more positive financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Recording net loss of US$0.4 million or US$0.05 per share, the company says it is now well positioned to capitalize on the increasing market opportunities within the renewable energy industry.
Roth & Rau’s management and supervisory boards have published a statement that publicises the company’s agreement with the proposed €22.00 per Roth & Rau share. This approval, required in order for the takeover by Meyer Burger to go ahead, signifies the support on the part of Roth & Rau’s management and supervisory boards of the takeover and their recommendation for other shareholders to accept the offer also.
