JA Solar Reports First Quarter 2008 Results

First Quarter 2008 Highlights

* Revenue of RMB 1.12 billion (US$160.0 million), an increase of 234.8% over Q1 2007
* Total gross profit of RMB 235.9 million (US$33.6 million), an increase of 243.0% over Q1 2007 * Gross margin of 21.0% as compared to 20.5% in Q1 2007
* Income from operations of RMB 163.6 million (US$23.3 million), an increase of 181.7% over Q1 2007
* Basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB 1.00 (US$0.14) and RMB 0.99 (US$0.14) as compared to RMB 0.53 (US$0.08) and RMB 0.52 (US$0.07) in Q1 2007
* Shipped 51.4 MW of solar cells during the quarter Outlook for 2008
* Reiterate expected full year 2008 revenue in the range of RMB 7.22 billion (US$1.03 billion) to RMB 8.02 billion (US$1.14 billion)
* New solar cell manufacturing lines in both Ningjin and Yangzhou to commence production on schedule during second half 2008
* Reiterate expected 2008 production output of no less than 340 MW and annual production capacity of no less than 500 MW by the end of 2008
* Gross margin above 20%

HEBEI, China, May 12, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. ("JA Solar", "the Company") (Nasdaq:JASO) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

First Quarter 2008 Results

Total revenue for the first quarter 2008 was RMB 1.12 billion (US$160.0 million), an increase of 234.8% from first quarter 2007 revenue of RMB 335.1 million (US$47.8 million), and an increase of 6.7% from fourth quarter 2007 revenue of RMB 1.05 billion (US$150.0 million).

Total gross profit for the first quarter 2008 was RMB 235.9 million (US$33.6 million) compared to RMB 68.8 million (US$9.8 million) in the first quarter 2007, and RMB 222.7 million (US$31.8 million) in the fourth quarter 2007. Gross margin was 21.0% in the first quarter 2008 compared to 20.5% in the first quarter 2007, and 21.2% in the fourth quarter 2007.

Net income available to ordinary shareholders for the first quarter 2008 was RMB 154.5 million (US$22.0 million) compared to net income available to ordinary shareholders of RMB 58.3 million (US$8.3 million) for the first quarter 2007, and net income available to ordinary shareholders of RMB 98.3 million (US$14.0 million) for the fourth quarter 2007.

For the first quarter 2008 basic and diluted earnings per ADS were RMB 1.00 (US$0.14) and RMB 0.99 (US$0.14), respectively. These are compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB 0.53 (US$0.08) and RMB 0.52 (US$0.07), respectively, for the same period of 2007; and, RMB 0.65 (US$0.09) and RMB 0.64 (US$0.09), respectively, for the fourth quarter 2007. The first quarter 2008 included share-based compensation expense of RMB 52.2 million (US$7.4 million), foreign exchange losses of RMB 38.6 million (US$5.5 million) and a positive change of RMB 40.7 million (US$5.8 million) in fair value of embedded foreign exchange derivatives, relating to some of our supply agreements. This is compared to share-based compensation expenses of RMB 2.0 million (US$0.3 million) and foreign exchange losses of RMB 6.2 million (US$0.9 million) for the same period of 2007; and, share-based compensation expenses of RMB 61.2 million (US$8.7 million) and foreign exchange losses of RMB 57.3 million (US$8.2 million) for the fourth quarter of 2007.

Capital expenditures were RMB 69.5 million (US$9.9 million) in the first quarter 2008, as compared to RMB 101.2 million (US$14.4 million) in the first quarter 2007, and RMB 128.9 million (US$18.4 million) in the fourth quarter 2007. Depreciation and amortization expenses in the first quarter 2008 were RMB 13.5 million (US$1.9 million), as compared to RMB 5.2 million (US$0.7 million) in the first quarter 2007, and RMB 11.9 million (US$1.7 million) in the fourth quarter 2007.

As of March 31, 2008, JA Solar had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 1.45 billion (US$206.8 million) compared with RMB 1.80 billion (US$256.1 million) at the end of the first quarter 2007, and RMB 1.15 billion (US$163.3 million) at the end of the fourth quarter 2007. Short-term debt decreased to nil at the end of the first quarter 2008 from RMB 200.0 million (US$28.5 million) at the end of the first quarter 2007, and RMB 200.0 million (US$28.5 million) at the end of fourth quarter 2007.

Summary of megawatts produced and shipped
(includes cell processing service)
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Three months ended
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Megawatts March 31, 2007 December 31, 2007 March 31, 2008
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Produced 17.6 MW 48.7 MW 49.2 MW
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Shipped 14.4 MW 50.2 MW 51.4 MW
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Cost per watt excluding wafer cost US$0.234/Wp US$0.198/Wp US$0.200/Wp
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The conversion of Renminbi into U.S. dollars in this release, made solely for the convenience of the reader, is based on the noon buying rate in The City of New York for cable transfers of Renminbi as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as of March 31, 2008, which was RMB 7.012 to US$1.0000. No representation is intended to imply that the Renminbi amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into U.S. dollars at that rate on March 31, 2008, or at any other date. The percentages stated in this press release are calculated based on Renminbi.

Samuel Yang, JA Solar's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited about our results for the first quarter, as we achieved continued revenue growth and a strong increase in income from operations. We are experiencing strong market demand this year, and we anticipate continued high customer demand for 2009. To strengthen our supply position, we recently added GCL as another supply partner during the quarter, which gives us further confidence in meeting increased customer demand as we ramp up our production capacity.

"We have made significant progress with our key operational and R&D initiatives. Installation of our new cell lines is on track. We are confident that we will achieve our target of 500 MW of annual production capacity by year-end 2008. Our R&D programs are moving forward and have started delivering results."

JA Solar's CFO, Mr. Daniel Lui said, "Our Q1 results once again demonstrated that our operational execution and disciplined financial management enabled us to achieve impressive revenue growth, increase profitability, and maintain our margin target. As we rapidly increase our size and scale with a continued emphasis on operational and cost efficiencies, we are confident that we will meet our growth targets, maintain profit margins, and grow profitably."

2008 Outlook

Based on current customer demand and market forecasts, we reiterate our expectations for revenue for the full year 2008 in the range of RMB 7.22 billion (US$1.03 billion) to RMB 8.02 billion (US$1.14 billion). Our revenue guidance in RMB remains unchanged. The higher amount in USD is due to a lower USD/RMB exchange rate used in the first quarter 2008 than the fourth quarter 2007. Gross margin for 2008 is expected to remain above 20%.

We reiterate our target for total production output of no less than 340 MW for 2008, with a total annual production capacity of no less than 500 MW by year-end 2008. Currently, we are building ten new solar cell manufacturing lines in Ningjin, Hebei Province. Between June to October 2008, we will add two 25 MW lines per month, totaling 250 MW of new capacity by the end of October. In our new production base in Yangzhou, we will add three 25 MW lines by the end of the fourth quarter 2008, totaling 75 MW of new capacity. The capital expenditures are expected to be RMB 966.8 million (US$137.9 million), primarily for capacity expansion. R&D expense is expected to be RMB 35.1 million (US$5.0 million).