The company announced that it aims to increase its ingot production to 510 megawatts (MW) by the third quarter of next year, from 360 MW. Its wire saws business, on the other hand, is expected to increase from 400 MW to 572 MW in the same time period. Meanwhile, it planned that cell capacity will increase from 550 MW to 820 MW.
Solarfun went on to say that it plans to further expand capacity in the second quarter of 2011, with its ingot and wire saws productions expected to reach 800 MW each, cells 1,300 MW and modules 1,500 MW. It states that this should be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of next year.
Record results
In terms of its 2010 third quarter financial results, the company reports that its total net revenues were RMB 2,185.7 million (USD$326.7 million), which reflects an increase of 24.7 percent from the second quarter of this year and an increase of 121.5 percent year-on-year. It cites higher shipments and higher ASP as the main reasons for this increase.
However, it said that revenue contribution from PV module processing services as a percentage of total net revenues was 6.9 percent, compared with 11.9 percent in the second quarter of the year.
PV module shipments, on the other hand, including module processing services, reached 223.9 MW, which is an increase from 102.6 MW in the third quarter of 2009.
The company explained that module revenue attributable to shipments to Germany decreased to 53 percent in the third quarter of this year, from 63 percent in the second quarter, while shipments to Italy, the U.S., Netherlands and Canada increased.
Peter Xie, president of Solarfun, commented: "We are pleased with the results we achieved in the third quarter, particularly our record shipments and revenues, as well as our increased gross margin, operating cost control and continued strong return on equity. In the first nine months of 2010, we have achieved non-GAAP earnings per basic ADS of USD$1.70. We continue to see healthy market demand in the fourth quarter and beyond, and with increased scale and further vertical integration in 2011, we believe we will continue to be well-positioned for further profitable growth."
Fourth quarter
Solarfun has raised its shipment guidance, for the full year, from 750 MW to approximately 785 MW. Of this, total module shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to be between 205 MW to 215 MW, of which about 25 percent to 30 percent will be for PV module processing services.
The company went on to say that it expects to see a slight decline in module shipments in the fourth quarter, compared with the previous quarter. It says this is due to: (i) the conversion some of its existing cell lines into high-efficiency cell capacity with the installation of selective emitter technology; and (ii) a conscious business decision to balance customer needs with corporate profitability goals. Therefore, says the company, it will reduce its purchase of externally sourced cells, which are more expensive than internally sourced cells.
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