Leading PV Manufacturer, Yingli Green has said that delays in obtaining construction approvals for PV projects planned in Algeria were behind the need to lower first quarter 2014 module shipment guidance.
The company said that would be down from fourth quarter 2013 shipment levels in the low-30% region, compared to previous guidance of a decline in the mid-20% region. Shipment declines were previously attributed to seasonality, while the decline was also due to strong demand at the end of 2013 to complete projects in China and meet strong demand globally.
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Yingli Green is estimated to have shipped over 900MW of PV modules in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The company reiterated that it was experiencing strong demand from China, US and Japan as well as other markets, with full-year guidance unchanged with PV modules shipment guidance of 4.0GW to 4.2GW.
Overall gross margin in the first quarter of 2014 was also revised. Yingli Green noted that margins were expected to higher than previously guided and be in the range of 15.5% to 16.5%, compared to 14% to 16%. The increase was said to be due to higher ASPs.
In a research note to investors, RBC Capital Markets financial analyst Mahesh Sanganeria said he believed the higher blended ASP in the quarter was a result of lower module shipments to China, rather than a broad-based ASP improvement.
In respect to the Algerian projects being delayed, Yingli Green said that module deliveries would occur in the following quarters of 2014.
