Trina and Jinko on the upswing

Changzhou & Shanghai / China

Trina Solar announced that solar module shipments were approximately 775 Megawatts (MW) during the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 19.8 percent from the second quarter of 2013. Also, net revenues were 548.4 million USD, an increase of 24.4 percent from the second quarter of 2013. Gross profit was 83.4 million USD, an increase of 62.9 percent from the second quarter of 2013. Gross margin was 15.2 percent, compared to 11.6 percent in the second quarter of 2013 "I am pleased to report that we have returned to profitability and delivered a better-than-expected performance across a number of key operating metrics. Our third quarter module shipments exceeded the high end of our expectations by almost 100 MW, driven by strong demand across most of our key markets," said Mr. Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. "While average selling prices ("ASPs") and polysilicon costs continue to stabilize in the third quarter, consolidation in the solar industry will also continue as it aligns more closely with supply. As a result of our ongoing efforts in improving our operational efficiency and controlling manufacturing costs, we achieved a further reduction in non-silicon costs, which contributed to notable quarter-on-quarter margin improvement.

Jinko Solar also in the ascendant

The figures Jinko Solar announced on Monday also indicate the company has overcome the photovoltaic crisis. The total solar product shipments were 518.9 MW, consisting of 489.3 MW of solar modules, 10.9 MW of silicon wafers and 18.7 MW of solar cells. This represents an increase of 6.1 percent from 489.2 MW in the second quarter of 2013 and an increase of 54.8 percent from 335.2 MW in the third quarter of 2012. As of September 30, 2013, the Company has completed 105MW worth of solar projects and expects additional 108MW to be completed in the fourth quarter. Total revenues were 320.7 million USD, representing an increase of 11.2 percent from the second quarter of 2013 and an increase of 47.6 percent from the third quarter of 2012. Electricity revenues generated from solar projects were 6.5 million USD, representing an increase of 717.8 percent from the second quarter of 2013. Gross margin was 22.3 percent, compared with 17.7 percent in the second quarter of 2013 and 5.8 percent in the third quarter of 2012. "I am very proud to report JinkoSolar's second consecutive quarter of profitability following robust quarter-over-quarter growth in revenue, module shipments, and gross margins," commented Mr.Kangping Chen, JinkoSolar's Chief Executive Officer. "We have picked up considerable momentum from the strategic investments we made during the downturn. During that time, we successfully penetrated new markets, broadened our geographic reach, and expanded our downstream business, which has already resulted in net profitability for the entire year, a goal we initially set for ourselves to complete by the end of 2013. We now look forward to closing out the year on an even stronger footing.

JinkoSolar is now solidly among the leading global solar PV companies with gross margins that have steadily improved to 22.3 percent thanks to our leading cost structure, improving global ASPs and growing profits from solar projects. I believe our strong operational and financial performance demonstrates management's effectiveness and ability to execute its strategy. Having regained profitability for a second quarter, and having achieved net profitability for the entire year a quarter ahead of schedule, we are now devoting our substantial resources and attention towards growing our core PV business and to rapidly expanding our downstream business."

Source: IWR Online, 19 Nov 2013