Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光), the nation’s largest solar cell maker, yesterday said net profit rose slightly to NT$385 million (US$12.81 million) last quarter from NT$384 million the previous quarter due to stringent cost controls.
The operating expense ratio improved to 5 percent last quarter from 6 percent in the first quarter of this year, the company said in a statement.
In the first half of this year, Neo Solar made a net profit of NT$769 million, or NT$1.02 per share, reversing a loss of NT$262 million in the same period last year.
Looking ahead, Neo Solar said it is optimistic about industry demand as global solar supply is gradually returning to a healthy situation. Global demand for solar system installation is expected to reach 40 gigawatts this year, it said. That would be an annual growth of 27 percent from last year’s 31.5 gigawatts.
“Demand will not freeze suddenly because of trade disputes [between China and the US], even though solar companies began taking wait-and-see attitude [on placing orders] recently,” Neo Solar said.
The US government is slated to announce its initial ruling on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes into Chinese and Taiwanese solar module makers today.
Separately, Neo Solar’s board approved the sale of 65 million new common shares via a private placement, according to a company filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Most of the proceeds will be used to repay bank loans and to improve the company’s financial structure.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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