‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JA Solar has confirmed 2016 shipments of 5.2GW, hitting its revised guidance posted in February.
The company’s latest results also revealed that average selling prices (ASPs) had trimmed profitability from 17% in 2015 to 14.6% in 2016. The 34.3% drop in gross profit tallies with the ~35% drop in global ASPs during 2016.
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“While the overall market environment remained challenging, we delivered solid Q4 operating results, topping off a strong 2016 for us,” said Baofang Jin, chairman and CEO, JA Solar. “We achieved our 2016 financial and operating goals with revenue and external shipments growing 16% and 25%, respectively. In the fourth quarter, demand across Asia, especially China, exceeded our expectations with the overall APAC region representing over 83% of total shipments.
“We still have some opportunity to improve our cost structure and manufacturing performance through efficiency initiatives, and believe our operations are positioned to benefit as market conditions improve around the world,” he added. “Looking ahead, we expect demand in the domestic Chinese market to remain solid in the first half of 2017, followed by a potential slowdown in the second half. Nonetheless, we are confident that our balanced global footprint and flexible business model will enable us to adjust to evolving market conditions.”
