ReneSola Ltd Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007 Results

JIASHAN, China, March 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ReneSola Ltd ("ReneSola" or the "Company"), a leading Chinese manufacturer of solar wafers, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007.

Financial Highlights
-- Fourth quarter 2007 net revenues were US$96.0 million, an increase of 197.6% from US$32.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, and an increase of 32.4% from US$72.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. Full year 2007 net revenues were US$249.0 million, an increase of 195.1% from US$84.4 million in the full year 2006.
-- Fourth quarter 2007 net income was US$17.5 million, an increase of 87.8% from US$9.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, and an increase of 36.8% from US$12.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. Full year 2007 net income was US$42.9 million, an increase of 69.7% from US$25.3 million in the full year 2006.
-- Fourth quarter 2007 basic and diluted earnings per share were US$0.17 and US$0.17, respectively, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.34 and US$0.34, respectively. Full year 2007 basic and diluted earnings per share were US$0.43 and US$0.43, respectively, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.86 and US$0.86, respectively. Each ADS represents two shares.

Business Highlights
-- Fourth quarter production output was 51.3 MW, an increase of 42.5% from 36.0 MW in the third quarter. Full year production output was 125.6 MW, an increase of 223% from 38.9 MW in the full year 2006, exceeding the top end of guidance.
-- Successfully executed 2007 capacity expansion target with additional 40 monocrystalline furnaces and 17 multicrystalline furnaces installed during the fourth quarter of 2007, bringing total ingot manufacturing capacity to 378 MW and wafer manufacturing capacity to 305 MW, compared with 80 MW of ingot manufacturing capacity as of the end of 2006.
-- Over 90% of raw materials required for 2008 planned production output of 300 MW have been secured through a combination of long-term and short-term procurement contracts, toll arrangements, and expected output from our polysilicon joint venture in Henan Province, China. -- Joint venture in Henan Province, China successfully commenced trial production of polysilicon, and development of wholly-owned green field polysilicon plant in Sichuan Province, China is on track with trial production of this facility expected to begin during the first half of 2009.
Six Three Twelve Six Three Three Twelve
months months months months months months months
ended ended ended ended ended ended ended
6/30 12/31 12/31 6/30 9/30 12/31 12/31
2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007
Net revenue
(US$000) 24,042 32,272 84,371 80,387 72,540 96,046 248,973 Gross profit
(US$000) 7,171 8,878 24,725 18,102 15,775 19,619 53,496 Gross margin (%) 29.8% 27.5% 29.3% 22.5% 21.7% 20.4% 21.5%
Operating profit
(US$000) 6,394 8,029 22,235 15,001 13,432 15,000 43,433
Foreign exchange
gain (loss) (US$000) (9) 141 364 (2,304) (569) (1,174) (4,047)
Profit for the
period (US$000) 7,039 9,303 25,301 12,690 12,775 17,471 42,936
Production output (MW) 10.0 15.7 38.9 38.3 36.0 51.3 125.6

"During 2007 ReneSola grew into a leading producer of solar wafers and our business expanded through upstream integration within the solar value chain into polysilicon manufacturing," said Mr. Xianshou Li, ReneSola's Chief Executive Officer. "As one of the fastest growing solar companies in the world, ReneSola achieved substantial top line growth without sacrificing profitability in spite of a significant increase in raw material costs, as demand for wafers, as well as average wafer selling prices, continued to increase. We also successfully executed our growth plan by expanding our raw material procurement and customer network and increasing our total production capacity from 80 MW as of the end of 2006, to 378 MW as of the end of 2007."

"During the year we also took strategic steps to integrate upstream into polysilicon manufacturing. Our joint venture in Henan Province, China commenced polysilicon trial production in mid-January 2008, and the development of our state-of-the-art green field polysilicon project in Sichuan Province, China is on track. In line with ReneSola's strong commitment to maintaining environmentally responsible business practices, the joint venture in Henan Province has met the environmental protection standards set by the government and is equipped to recycle silicon tetrachloride. The polysilicon project in Sichuan Province will utilize proven, high-end equipment with fully closed loop systems to recycle and convert waste into products that can be reused in the production process."

"In 2008, we will maintain our focus on efficient cost production and innovation as we look to build on ReneSola's strong brand name. New equipment using our proprietary technologies and state-of-the-art facilities will include some of the most advanced furnaces and wire saws in the market. We are confident that our expansion efforts and upstream transition into polysilicon manufacturing, paired with a strong feedstock supply pipeline and a customer base of leading industry players, put ReneSola in a unique position to capitalize on the opportunities presented by a rapidly growing solar industry in 2008 and beyond."

Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007

Net revenues
Net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 were US$96.0 million, an increase of 32.4% sequentially and 197.6% year-over-year. For the full year 2007, ReneSola reported net revenues of US$249.0 million representing a 195.1% increase year-over-year from US$84.4 million in 2006. The rise in fourth quarter and full year 2007 revenues was primarily attributable to an increase in output from the expanded production capacity and increasing wafer ASPs.

Gross profit
Fourth quarter gross profit was US$19.6 million, a 24.4% increase sequentially and 121.0% year-over-year. The gross margin for the fourth quarter was 20.4% compared to 21.7% in the third quarter of 2007. Full year 2007 gross profit was US$53.5 million, a 116.4% increase year-over-year from US$24.7 million in 2006. The gross margin for full year 2007 was 21.5% compared to 29.3% for the full year 2006. The change in gross margin was primarily attributable to increases in average feedstock costs of 13.7% sequentially and 42.1% year-over-year. Increasing feedstock costs were mitigated by a reduction in silicon consumption through a combination of in- house closed-loop scrap recycling, productivity gains from improvements in wafer slicing, a reduction in non-raw material related production costs and increases in wafer ASPs.

Operating profit
Operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2007 was US$15.0 million, an increase of 11.7% sequentially and 86.8% year-over-year. Operating margin was 15.6% in the fourth quarter compared to 18.5% in the third quarter of 2007. Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2007 were US$4.6 million, up from US$2.3 million in the third quarter of 2007. Of the total operating expenses in the fourth quarter US$0.7 million was attributable to share-based compensation expenses.

Operating profit for the full year 2007 was US$43.4 million, a 95.3% increase year-over-year from US$22.2 million in 2006. Operating margin was 17.4% for the full year 2007 compared to 26.4% in the previous year due to the lower gross margin attributable to the significant increase in raw material costs. Total operating expenses increased to US$10.l million for the full year 2007 from US$2.5 million for the full year 2006. This was primarily due to increased general and administrative expenses and R&D costs reflecting higher salary and benefit payments as a result of the need for a greater number of employees to meet our fast growing business, as well as an increase in professional fees and compliance expenses.

Profit before tax

Profit before tax in the fourth quarter was US$12.4 million, a 3.6% increase sequentially and 49.3% increase year-over-year. Finance costs increased by 13.9% sequentially, reflecting increased bank borrowings and interest rates. Finance costs as a percentage of net revenue decreased from 2.0% in the third quarter of 2007 to 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2007. The fourth quarter foreign exchange loss increased to US$1.2 million from US$0.6 million in the third quarter as a result of appreciation of RMB against the US dollar during the quarter.

Profit before tax for the full year 2007 was US$36.8 million, an increase of 63.0% year-over-year from US$22.6 million in 2006. Finance costs in 2007 increased to US$4.5 million from US$0.3 million in 2006, reflecting increased bank borrowings and the convertible bonds issued in March 2007. The full year 2007 foreign exchange loss was US$4.0 million from a gain of US$0.4 million in the previous year due to appreciation of RMB against the US dollar.

Taxation
ReneSola's subsidiary, Zhejiang Yuhui Solar Energy Source Co. Ltd, ("Zhejiang Yuhui") recognized a tax benefit of US$5.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, significantly up from US$0.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. For the full year 2007, Zhejiang Yuhui recognized a tax benefit of US$6.2 million, up from US$2.7 million in 2006, due to an increase in domestic equipment purchases. In accordance with PRC tax regulations, Zhejiang Yuhui received 40% of the amount arising from the purchase of domestic made equipment as an investment tax credit. The tax credit can be carried forward for 7 years to offset future corporate income taxes.

Net profit
Fourth quarter 2007 net profit increased 36.8% sequentially and 87.8% year-over-year to US$17.5 million. Full year 2007 net profit increased 69.7% year-over-year to US$42.9 million due to an increase in production output and improved productivity.

2008 Guidance
In the first quarter of 2008 we expect our gross margin to remain stable and expected production output to be 62 MW, as compared to 51.3 MW in the fourth quarter of 2007 and 15.3 MW in the first quarter of 2007. We maintain our annualized ingot production capacity target of 645 MW by the end of 2008. We anticipate production output of a minimum of 300 MW in 2008 with minimum annual net revenues of US$480 million. This represents year-over-year revenue growth of at least 93%.

ET Solar Group Announces a 3MW Dual-Axis Tracker and Module Sales

NANJING, China, March 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- ET Solar Group Corp. ("ET Solar"), a Nanjing-based integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products including ingot, wafer, module, and state-of-the-art dual-axis tracking systems with manufacturing facilities located in Taizhou, China, announced today a 3MW dual-axis tracking system and module sales contract for a new solar farm project in Oregon, the United States.

Under the contract, ET Solar will ship a total of 273 dual-axis trackers in the first half of 2008 with the first shipment expected to be effected in April. Each tracker has a peak output of 11 kilowatts and can produce, depending on geography, a range of 20,000 to 28,000 kilowatt hours a year. Annual power output of ET Solar dual-axis trackers is up to 40% higher than a fixed array. All dual-axis trackers are jointly developed between Meca Solar and ET Solar and will be operating on the high efficiency solar modules manufactured by ET Solar. ET Solar trackers are able to be fully integrated with the modules manufactured by other solar companies as well.

Commenting on the news, Xinghua Wang, chairman of ET Solar said, "The 3MW tracker transaction is the first sizeable tracking system sales that a China based integrated solar company ever made into world's major solar markets. This is truly a milestone event for the entire Chinese solar industry and demonstrates ET Solar's determination and leadership in downstream system integration product development and commercialization."

Dennis She, Chief Sales Officer of ET Solar, further commented,"The fact that our customer is purchasing both state-of-the-art tracking systems and modules from ET Solar is a show case of total customer satisfaction which we are now achieving and reflects our broad product portfolio that we are able to offer to our downstream system integration customers. Being a supplier of both tracker and module products, ET Solar is well positioned to be a substantial contributor to the exponential growth of the large solar farm market segment of the PV industry."

Linhui Sui, Chief Technology Officer of ET Solar, said, "With our optimal structure design, high quality product component, stringent quality control and the battle tested technologies, we are now able to meet the U.S. compliance, qualification and certification requirement and standards."

Perfectenergy plans 45MW solar capacity in 2H08FY and 200MW ramp in 2009

19 March 2008

Perfectenergy International has said that its successful move into a new 67,000 square foot plant in Shanghai, China during 2007 will allow the photovoltaic manufacturer to reach a capacity of 45MW in the second half of its 2008 fiscal year. The company announced the news with its financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2008.

Jack Li, Perfectenergy's President and Chief Executive Officer, said that the company was already in the planning phase for a new solar cell production facility in the Shanghai Zizhu Science-Based Industrial District that would have a capacity of 200MW per annum. Construction is expected to begin in 2008 and be completed in 2009.

Canadian Solar sees record-making growth in 2007

BEIJING, Mar 19, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --Canadian Solar Inc. (CSI, CSIQ. Nasdaq) posted more than 300 million U.S. dollars of sales revenue in 2007, surging 344 percent from 2006, according to its latest financial report.

This makes CSI the company with the fastest growth in 2007 among its peers in the world. Notably, the company's capacity of sold solar energy components reached 83.5 MW in 2007, 4.42 times of 2006.

CSI realized buoyant growth in the development of terminal market and establishment of marketing channels.

The company realized 127.5 million U.S. dollars of sales revenue in the fourth quarter of 2007, increasing 31 percent from the previous quarter.

It's predicted that CSI would realize 150 million-155 million U.S. dollars of sales revenue in the first quarter of 2008 with shipment at 40 MW.

CSI is expected to attain 650 million-750 million U.S. dollars of sales revenue in 2008 with annual shipment totaling 200-220 MW.

The first phase of CSI Solartronics (Changshu) Co., Ltd. was put into production in February 2008 with 200 MW of designed production capacity and annual output value at 700 million U.S. dollars.

CSI's polysilicon project in central China's Luoyang is winding up with 60 MW production capacity by the end of 2008, which is expected to ease raw materials supply of CSI.

China unveils renewable energy development plan for 2006-2010

http://www.chinaview.cn/ 2008-03-18 18:36:14

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China's annual consumption of renewable energy will reach the equivalent of 300 million tons of standard coal by 2010, which would be 10 percent of its total annual energy consumption, under the renewable energy development plan for 2006-2010.


The plan was released on Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planning agency.


The plan says 2010 renewable energy consumption will nearly double the 2005 level, which was equivalent to 166 million tons of standard coal. That led to a reduction of 3 million tons of sulfur dioxide emissions and more than 400 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.


Given the dearth of petroleum and natural gas resources and the large share of coal in China's energy production, it is difficult for the nation to sustain its development and protect the environment by relying simply on fossil fuels, the NDRC said.


China boasts abundant renewable resources that could be exploited, the plan says. It says that by 2010:


-- the nation will have hydropower projects with a combined installed capacity of 190 million kilowatts and wind power projects with installed capacity of 10 million kw.


-- the installed capacity of bio-energy projects will reach 5.5million kw and that of solar energy projects will be 300,000 kw.


-- domestically produced hydropower equipment and solar water heaters should become competitive on global markets.


-- wind power equipment manufacturers should put generating units with installed capacities of at least 1.5 million watts into mass production.