Trina Solar has said geographic diversification and pricing stabilisation helped it decrease its losses and post stronger than expected shipments in the second quarter of 2013.
The China-based PV manufacturer said increased emphasis on markets such as Japan, India and the US meant it exceeded its quarterly shipment guidance by 100MW and almost halved its quarter-on-quarter losses from US$63.7 million to US$33.7 million.
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Despite uncertainties created by the ongoing trade dispute between Europe and China, Trina reported “stable” shipments to the EU and strong growth in shipments to other areas of the globe.
This combination allowed the company to ship a total of 647MW in the quarter, up from 418.8MW in the same quarter last year and from 392.9MW in the previous quarter of this year.
Revenue for the quarter was US$440.7 million, 27.4% higher than the same period last year and over 64% higher than the first quarter of 2013.
Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, said: “With robust global demand, we took full advantage of our global sales network and strong brand to seize available commercial opportunities.
“In terms of pricing, the average selling price [ASP] of modules has stabilizsed, reversing the falling trend seen in previous quarters. As a result of our on-going efforts to improve operational efficiency and control manufacturing costs, we achieved continuing reductions in non-silicon costs, which contributed to quarter-on-quarter margin improvement.”
He added that the “regulatory uncertainty in the second quarter surrounding the EU’s anti-dumping case against China meant geographic diversification of revenue was necessary.
“We achieved strong sequential shipment increases in growth markets, including China, the US, India and Japan, which added to our stable shipments to Europe. We continue to monitor the latest developments in the trade case and are encouraged by the recent solution negotiated between the EU and China. We remain committed to continuing to serve our customers and business partners in Europe, with whom we have built strong relationships.”
Gross profit in the second quarter of 2013 was US$51.2 million, compared to a gross profit of US$4.4 million in the first quarter of 2013 and US$29.0 million in the second quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, gross margin was 11.6% in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 1.7% in the first quarter of 2013 and 8.4% in the second quarter of 2012.
