Chinese PV Industry Brief: Mixed financials for module, inverter manufacturers

JinkoSolar has predicted that polysilicon prices will peak before the end of September. It said prices rose in the April-June period due to a lack of new manufacturing capacity, pandemic measures, and power rationing, including in Sichuan province, where it has production lines. JinkoSolar was a victim of its own success in the second quarter, with adjusted net income for shareholders of CNY 368 million ($53.3 million) wiped out partly by a change in value of convertible bond commitments. Its rising stock price during the quarter meant investors ended up with a three-month loss of CNY 623 million, down from a CNY 28.9 million profit in the previous window. The mixed trading conditions have also prompted Jinko to alter its manufacturing capacity expansion plans. It now aims to have 60 GW of annual module lines this year, down from its initial 65 GW target. Cell capacity will still be expected to hit 55 GW, but wafer output is now set to reach 55 GW, rather than 60 GW.

Risen said it shipped 5.67 GW of modules in the first six months of 2022. It achieved revenue of CNY 12.62 billion, up 51.3% year on year. Net profit soared by 653.6% on the year to CNY 504 million. Sales of polysilicon hit CNY 977 million in the first half, at 4,987 metric tons (MT). Risen said it had a total PV module capacity of 22.1 GW and a polysilicon capacity of 12,000 MT per year by the end of June.

GoodWe said its first-half revenue hit CNY 145.2 million, up 33.6% year on year, on a net profit of CNY 54.6 million, down 64.3% on the year. The inverter maker sold 233,700 PV inverters in the first six months of the year. It attributed the sharp decrease in profit to higher semiconductor prices and logistics costs.

TBEA posted CNY 38.8 billion of revenue in the first half of the year, up 72.2% year on year. It recorded a profit of CNY 6.9 billion, up 122.3% from the same period a year earlier. It produced 46,200 MT of polysilicon and sold 47,700 MT, pushing sales revenue from polysilicon up 193.5% year on year to CNY 10.6 billion. TBEA estimates its total polysilicon output will reach 110,000 MT to 120,000 MT this year, and the figure is expected to grow to 240,000 MT to 250,000 MT in 2023.

Ginlong achieved revenue of CNY 2.44 billon in the first half, up 68% year on year. It recorded a profit of CNY 398 million, up 67.2% year on year. Solar inverters accounted for 74.1% of its total sales. It now has a total inverter capacity of 770,000 units per year.

TCL is extending its move into rooftop solar by two years, following a successful pilot scheme. The strategy involves TCL installing rooftop PV panels for residential and commercial customers, arranging third-party finance, and dealing directly with customers. The pilot scheme, arranged between TCL Electronics Holdings and parent TCL Holdings, was due to run until the end of this year, but will now continue until the end of 2024, TCL Electronics said last week.

Solargiga posted a first-half profit of CNY 67.7 million, up from CNY 61.3 million in the first half of last year. Its ingot and wafer operations banked a profit of CNY 112 million in the January-June period. The company said its annual ingot manufacturing capacity will rise from 6.2 GW to 7.4 GW this year, with wafer output set to rise to 7.4 GW, from 4.5 GW at present. It said it expects PV module capacity to reach the 1 GW to 8.2 GW range.

Beijing Energy International generated a first-half net profit of CNY 286 million, down from CNY 361 million in January-June 2021. The state-owned renewables developer made no additions to its 97 solar plants during the period and saw the average electricity tariff banked by its solar dominated portfolio fall, year on year, from CNY 0.75 to CNY 0.60. The developer owes CNY 8.3 billion in yuan-denominated debt to creditors within 12 months and CNY 3.37 billion in US dollar commitments.

Shandong Hi-Speed New Energy Group reported a first-half profit of HKD 343 million ($43.7 million), down from HKD 418 million, year on year, from its 2,306 MW solar project portfolio. Revenue fell from HKD 3.02 billion in January-June 2021 to HK$ 2.94 billion in the first half of this year. The company, formerly known as Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group, said it is now exploring hydrogen production.

Flat Glass said last week that PV products accounted for CNY 1.49 billion of its first-half gross profit. It banked a net profit of CNY 1 billion, down from CBY 1.26 billion in the first half of last year. In the first quarter, Flat Glass completed two 1,200-ton-per-day melting capacity PV glass production lines in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and cold-repaired an existing 600-ton line at the same site. The company financed the move with a convertible bond that raised CNY 3.98 billion and is now preparing a net CNY 6 billion non-public share issue.