Canadian Solar Reports Second Quarter 2007 Results

August 14, 2007: 07:00 AM EST


JIANGSU, China, Aug. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company," "CSI," or "we") today reported its preliminary unaudited US GAAP financial information for the second quarter of 2007 ended June 30, 2007.

Net revenues for the quarter were $60.4 million, including $2.7 million silicon material sales, compared to net revenues of $17.3 million for the second quarter of 2006 and $17.5 million for the first quarter of 2007. Net revenues for the first quarter of 2007 included $2.8 million in silicon material sales. Net loss for the quarter was $2.9 million, or $0.11 per share, compared to net income of $2.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2006 and net loss of $3.9 million, or $0.14 per share, for the first quarter of 2007. Excluding share-based compensation expenses of $2.4 million, the net loss for the quarter would have been $0.5 million, or $0.02 per share.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of CSI, commented: "Our Q2 revenues were at the high end of our guidance range. We continue to benefit from our strong international sales and marketing network and our focus on tier one distributors and project-based companies. During the quarter, we saw sustained demand for our products in Germany and Spain. We expect to complete our Phase One in-house solar cell production facility in the middle of October, which would bring our total cell capacity to 100MW per year. We have recently ramped up our module production capacity to 180MW per year. These successful steps in our expansion strategy will help to solidify our position as a major player in the industry and enable us to meet increased customer demand."

Bing Zhu, CFO of CSI, noted: "Our gross margins improved slightly in Q2 due to our increasing in-house solar cell manufacturing capability. We would have been profitable on a cash operating basis during the quarter without the following two factors: first, we cleared out 1.63MW of high-priced solar cells inventory purchased in 2006 and secondly, we incurred slightly higher yield loss, as we almost quadrupled our production within one quarter. Entering the third quarter, we are experiencing stable module pricing and expect this to continue during the second half of 2007. We have also experienced modest materials price increases from certain suppliers. We are working on improving our cost structure and operating efficiencies to offset these increases and expect our operating margins to improve significantly in Q4 as we speed up our in-house solar cell manufacturing production."

Recent Developments

We recently started to ramp up production at our second 25MW solar cell production line, following installation and acceptance tests in June and July. We expect to install our third and fourth 25MW cell production lines in September and October 2007, ahead of our original schedule. By doing so, we expect to increase our in-house solar cell manufacturing capacity to 100 MW by the middle of Q4.

We also recently entered into agreements for syndicated loans of US$50 million with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Communications Bank. Both banks announced their intention to continue to support our newly revised three-year growth plan. Together with other existing banking arrangements, CSI has approximately US$90 million in available credit lines.



Revenue by Geography (US$ thousands)
Q207 Q107 Q206
Region Revenue % Revenue % Revenue %
Asia 2,959 4.9% 3,308 18.9% 96 0.6%
Europe 57,282 94.8% 12,139 69.4% 16,602 96.3%
North America 142 0.2% 225 1.3% 528 3.1%
South America -- -- 1,817 10.4% -- --
Other 30 0.1% -- 0.0% 24 0.0%
Total Net Revenue 60,413 100.0% 17,489 100.0% 17,250 100.0%

Note: Asian revenue included $2.7 million silicon materials sales in Q207
and $2.8 million silicon materials sales in Q107.



Outlook

Based on current market conditions, our order backlog and our production capacity, we are increasing our prior guidance of net revenues for the full year 2007 to $255-$265 million from $220-$230 million. Shipments for the year are expected to be 70-75MW, compared to our original estimate of 64MW. Based on indications from our key customers, the Company estimates that the demand for CSI module products in 2008 is now over 200MW.

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2007 are expected to be $80-$85 million, with cash operating income, determined on a non-GAAP basis by excluding share based compensation, in the range of $1.6-$2.0 million. Shipments for the third quarter of 2007 are expected to be 20-23 MW. In the third quarter, our current customer backlog orders are enabling us to better utilize our existing inventory of all cell grades, which will help us increase our product efficiency and improve our profit margins on the module sales.

Investor Conference Call / Webcast Details

A conference call has been scheduled for 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 (in Jiangsu). This will be 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 in New York. During the call, time will be set aside for analysts and interested investors to ask questions of executive officers.

The call may be accessed by dialing +1-866-202-0886 (domestic) or +1-617- 213-8841 (international). The passcode to access the call is 62629322. A replay of the call will be available starting one hour after the call and continuing until 11:00p.m. on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 (in Jiangsu) or 11:00a.m. on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 (in New York) at http://www.csisolar.com and by telephone at +1-888-286-8010 (domestic) or +1-617-801-6888 (international). The passcode to access the replay is 54310460.

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSI) is a vertically integrated manufacturer of solar cell, solar module and custom-designed solar application products serving worldwide customers. CSI is incorporated in Canada and conducts all of its manufacturing operations in China. Backed by years of experience and knowledge in the solar power market and the silicon industry, CSI has become a major global provider of solar power products for a wide range of applications. For more information, please visit http://www.csisolar.com .