Jinko Solar Posts 2016 Profit, Guides Astonishing 2017 Shipping Target
Chinese solar PV manufacturer Jinko Solar reported a very impressive growth in 2016, even with a solid-but-lackluster fourth quarter, and further shocked experts by guiding 2017 solar PV module shipments in the range of 8.5 to 9.0 gigawatts, a potentially staggering growth rate.
It’s obviously been fun times at Jinko Solar of late. In November, the company increased its full-year shipping guidance despite a relatively quiet third quarter — increasing guidance to between 6.6 gigawatts (GW) and 6.7 GW from its previous guidance of between 6.0 GW and 6.5 GW. Earlier this month, Jinko Solar took the top spot as the world’s leading solar PV supplier, overtaking Chinese competitor Trina Solar, according to new figures from GlobalData.
So maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise that the company has only increased its ambition for 2017 based on similarly solid (if not spectacular) fourth quarter results.
For the fourth quarter of 2016, Jinko Solar reported total solar module shipments of 1,733 megawatts (MW), an increase of 7.9% over the previous quarter, and an increase of 1.3% over the same quarter a year earlier. Total revenues were down slightly, and income from operations was down significantly on the previous quarter and year-over-year.
The big news was in Jinko Solar’s full-year 2016 results, which saw total solar module shipments reach 6,656 MW, an increase of 47.5% over 2015’s numbers. Total revenue for the year was similarly up, to RMB21.40 billion ($3.08 billion), an increase of 38.5% over 2015.
“I am pleased to announce a strong quarter to finish out the year with module shipments hitting 1,733 MW and 6,656 MW in the fourth quarter and full year 2016, respectively,” said Mr. Kangping Chen, JinkoSolar’s Chief Executive Officer. “I am proud to say that this puts us firmly in the position as the largest module supplier globally. Total revenues during the quarter hit US$737.6 million and US$3.08 billion for the whole year. While market sentiment is gloomy overall, we remain optimistic about the global demand in 2017.”
Jinko Solar also completed the sale of Jinko Solar Power Engineering Group Limited (Jinko Power, for short), its downstream business in China — however the sale and the work of Jinko Power was excluded from the company’s quarterly earnings.
“We successfully complete the spin-off process of Jinko Power’s project business which generated US$145.2 million in investment gain for JinkoSolar and strengthened our balance sheet by cutting debt to US$892 million from US$2.1 billion,” continued Mr Kangping Chen. “In January 2017, we further cut our debt by repurchasing almost all of our convertible notes due in 2019 at holders’ put option. These initiatives have increased our corporate flexibility and reinforced our financial position which will allow us to take advantage of more opportunities in 2017.”
Maybe most importantly, however, is Jinko Solar’s guidance for the next quarter and full-year. Specifically, Jinko Solar is expecting to make solar shipments in the range of 1.9 GW to 2.0 GW, and hopes to finish the year with total shipments in the phenomenal range of 8.5 GW to 9.0 GW.
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