Yingli Solar Confirms Poor Third Quarter, Lowers 2016 Guidance

Struggling China-based solar PV manufacturer Yingli Green Energy has confirmed its own low expectations for its third quarter, reporting lackluster revenue and shipments, and an operating loss of $34 million. Unsurprisingly, the company also lowered its shipping guidance for the full year 2016.

As I reported in late November, Yingli Green Energy, also known as Yingli Solar, was not predicting a particularly successful third quarter when it published its customary preliminary Q3 results. Yingli Solar reported back in August that it expected “to face various challenges” during the second half of 2016, “such as the downward trend of average selling price of PV module as a result of increasing competition in various markets and higher anti-dumping and countervailing duty tariff in US” [sic]. This has been an issue to affect many solar companies around the world, but Yingli Solar was particularly hard-hit as it relies heavily on China for its sales, and it was in China that the lull was most prominent.

As such, investors and analysts alike were expecting lackluster third quarter results from the China-based manufacturer, and they got them in spades.

Yingli Solar reported net revenues of RMB1,459.6 million ($218.9 million), compared to RMB2,524.1 million ($379.8 million) in the second quarter. Total module shipments were 365.3 megawatts (MW), compared to 662 MW in the second quarter. Gross profit was RMB80.3 million ($12.0 million), while gross margin was 5.5%, compared to RMB460.1 million ($69.2 million) and 18.2% respectively in the second quarter.

Yingli Solar also reported an operating loss of RMB226.9 million ($34.0 million), compared to an operating income of RMB158.3 million ($23.8 million) the quarter previously.

“Given the weakened demand in China after the feed-in-tariff adjustments and the oversupply of PV modules in the market, the Company tried to strike a balance between maintaining a healthy operating cash flow and shipment volume in the third quarter of 2016,” said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. “While we shipped approximately 365 MW PV modules, we achieved a positive operating cash flow in the quarter.”

“Based on current market conditions, the Company’s current operating conditions, estimated production capacity and forecasted customer demand, we expect our PV module shipments in the fourth quarter of 2016 would be in the range of 600 MW to 670 MW, and we revise our shipments guidance for full year of 2016 to 2.1 GW to 2.2 GW.”