Giga Solar Material Corp (碩禾), the nation’s biggest photovoltaic conductive paste supplier, yesterday said robust demand and a growing number of solar system installations in China would boost its bottom line this quarter.
The company’s upbeat forecast comes as domestic solar wafer suppliers and solar cell makers have predicted a recovery in the industry from a prolonged overcapacity-driven slump.
“Demand in the third quarter has been better than in the second quarter. Most solar cell makers are expecting more business and they are using our photovoltaic conductive paste to make their products,” company president Cafer Huang (黃文瑞) told reporters on the sidelines of an investors’ conference.
“Order visibility is quite good, as we have recently received orders through the next three months,” Huang said.
Giga Solar counts Chinese and Taiwanese solar cell makers as its major clients, he added.
The growing number of solar system installations in China in the second half of this year is a major growth driver this quarter, as Beijing is escalating its efforts to encourage more green energy, Huang said.
On top of that, strong customer demand is to drive a greater revenue contribution from Giga Solar’s higher gross margin front-side silver photovoltaic paste, he said.
Front-side silver photovoltaic paste is to contribute more than 80 percent of the company’s overall revenue this quarter from 75 percent last quarter, he said.
Shipments of front-side silver photovoltaic paste are expected to expand by 20 percent to 150 tonnes this quarter from last quarter’s 125 tonnes, KGI Securities Investment Advisory (凱基投顧) analyst Jennifer Liang (梁姿嫻) said.
Bucking the solar industry’s downtrend, Giga Solar’s net income last quarter grew 13 percent to NT$406.13 million (US$12.7 million), or NT$6.68 per share, from NT$352.08 million, or NT$5.8 per share, in the first quarter.
Liang expects Giga Solar net income this quarter to total about NT$669 million, or NT$11 per share, which is higher than the company’s share capital of NT$608.93 million.
Gross margin slid to 21.26 percent last quarter from 24.2 percent in the first quarter, the company said.
Meanwhile, Giga Solar is expanding its solar power plant operations as it seeks a new growth engine. The company expects revenue from its solar power plants to increase to NT$40 million per month from the current NT$30 million, after a new domestic solar power plant starts operations later this month.
Giga Solar operates solar power plants in Japan and Taiwan, with a total capacity of 30 megawatts.
Separately, Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker, yesterday reported a loss of NT$552 million for last quarter, widening from a loss of NT$415 million in the first quarter, while solar wafer manufacturer Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美矽晶) posted NT$204 million in profit last quarter, down 0.88 percent from NT$205.81 million in the first quarter.
SAS on Monday said that its board approved a plan to build a solar cell plant in Germany, which is to have an annual capacity of 200 megawatts.
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