Revenues and shipments up, profits down at Trina Solar for Q2 2011

Trina Solar has posted results of its second-quarter performance, showing a healthy increase in both module shipments and year-on-year net revenue. Logging a gross profit of US$98.3 million for the quarter, which represents a decrease of 35.0% sequentially and 17.3% for the same period last year, the company cited policy changes in Italy and resulting high industry inventory as having had an effect on the company’s sales.

Trina shipped approximately 396MW of PV modules in the second quarter, representing a 77.9% year-on-year increase compared to 222.8MW in the second quarter of 2010, and increasing by over 76MW on Q1 2011. The company brought in net revenues of US$579.5 million, up 56.3% on the same period in 2010.

Gross margin was 17.0%, down from 27.5% in the first quarter of 2011 and 32.1% in the second quarter of 2010. In regard to Trina’s in-house wafer and module production, gross margin for this segment was 20.4%.

Operating income also saw a significant decrease, slipping from US$84.5 million in Q1 2011 and US$83.3 million in Q2 2010 to US$32.8 million. A similarly diminished figure was Trina’s net income for the second-quarter period, which came in at US$11.8 million, compared to US$47.7 million in the previous quarter.

As of June 30, 2011, the company had US$684.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and a working capital balance of US$758.1 million. Long-term borrowings came in at US$382.6 million, with total bank borrowings of US$725.6 million.

Third-quarter projection

Trina expects to ship between 480MW and 520MW of PV modules in Q3 2011. In response to increased module demand, Trina plans to build out its annualized in-house ingot and wafer production capacity to approximately 1.2GW.

Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, commented on the company’s figures and expected performance for the coming months: “In the third quarter, we expect a significant reduction in our manufacturing costs due in large part to recently completed renegotiation of the majority of our long term polysilicon feedstock and wafer agreements. We have seen substantial improvement in order pipeline from our distributors and large commercial and utility segment customers across Europe and North America. In addition to recently concluded agreements, we are also advancing discussions with new and existing customers to secure a growing number of sales agreements that extend through the second half of the year and early 2012.”

Trina has recently seen a number of orders from global customers, and has made a series of announcements including its participation in a three-year research agreement with the Australian National University (ANU) to develop high-efficiency n-type silicon solar cells with conversion efficiencies of 20% for mass production; the opening of a new sales and business development office in Sydney, Australia; receipt of the no. 2 spot for environmental and social performance as awarded by the 2011 Solar Company Scorecard; and reshuffles to its board and board committees.