Solar cell manufacturer Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光) posted a record-high loss of NT$6.3 billion (US$206.8 million) for last year as prices plunged on oversupply, according to a company statement released yesterday.
Restructuring costs, including plant allocation and asset impairment losses, also weighed on the firm’s bottom line, the Hsinchu-based company said.
In 2015, Neo Solar made a NT$139 million net profit.
Revenue last year plunged 25.52 percent to NT$16.54 billion from NT$22.21 billion the previous year.
However, Neo Solar assured its shareholders about its financial stability, saying it has NT$8 billion in cash equivalents on a consolidated basis. Net debt to equity ratio stood at a reasonable level of 54.74 percent, the company said.
As part of the company’s turnaround efforts, Neo Solar said it plans to shift production to more profitable higher-margin monocrystalline products, especially passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells.
This year, Neo Solar plans to shift more than half of its total solar cell capacity, or 1 gigawatt, to PERC solar cells, up from this year’s 600 megawatts, the statement said.
In addition, Neo Solar hopes to improve its profitability by diversifying into solar power plants.
The company hopes to see an improvement in the fourth quarter of this year.
Neo Solar is not the only company struggling to eke out profits in the volatile solar industry.
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer supplier, yesterday said it is lowering its factory utilization and adjusting its product lineup to weather the slowdown.
Utilization rate at its wafer slicing plants fell to about 80 percent this month from last month’s 90 percent, Green Energy said yesterday.
“Our priority this year is to focus on producing profitable products, while phasing out unprofitable ones,” Green Energy president Swean Lin (林士源) said. “This year will be another tough year.”
Demand has been in the doldrums due to ambiguous “green” energy policies in China and the US, the world’s two biggest solar markets, Lin said.
However, demand in India and developing nations is on the rise, he said.
To boost its profitability, Green Energy yesterday showcased its latest lightweight solar product in collaboration with Gixia Group (奇想創造). The new product carries a 20 percent price premium compared with conventional solar products, Lin said.
The new solar product can be used for solar sidewalks, solar sound barriers, solar bus stops or mobile solar power packs, Green Energy said.
It is due to hit the market in the second half of this year.
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