PV manufacturer Kyocera has identified a slowdown in its Japanese solar business as one of the factors behind a fall in income in the first quarter of 2014.
In results published today for the three months ending June 2014, Kyocera said net income from the quarter was down 14% on the same period last year, falling from ¥22.65 (US$220 million) billion to ¥19.5 billion.
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Kyocera said sales in its solar business, part of its applied ceramic products group, had taken a hit from a combination of declining module prices and a slowdown in its Japanese solar business.
This was a result of a concentration of sales for large-scale projects in Japan coming on stream from the second quarter onwards.
Overall, net sales in the applied ceramics group in Q1 2014 were down 12.5% on Q1 2013 to ¥53.8 billion and operating profit almost 65% to ¥2.8 billion.
But with demand for modules from public and industrial solar projects in Japan expected to bounce back over the remainder of the financial year, Kyocera forecast an uptick in sales
Overall it predicted by the end of March 2015, sales in the group would be up year on year by 11%, from ¥272.7 billion to ¥303 billion.