Canadian Solar turns to USD 25.5m Q2 2012 loss

Aug 15, 2012 - Solar products maker Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) on Wednesday reported a net loss of USD 25.5 million (EUR 20.7m) for the second quarter of 2012, against a net profit of USD 7.1 million a year earlier.

Net loss per diluted share was USD 0.59, versus earnings of USD 0.16 in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin declined to 12.4% from 13.2%, but was up from 7.7% in the first quarter of 2012 owing to a boost from a warranty insurance adjustment.

The company booked an operating loss of USD 3.1 million, compared with an operating profit of USD 25 million a year earlier.

Net revenue fell to USD 348.2 million from USD 481.8 million, in spite of a rise in shipments to 412 MW from 287 MW. Chairman and chief executive Shawn Qu said that shipments had remained healthy with a weak US market being offset by good performance in Europe, especially Germany. The decline in average selling prices, however, had continued amid a weakening of the euro and as Germany moved to lower feed-in-tariffs, he added.

For the third quarter of 2012, the company predicted shipments of between 390 MW and 420 MW. Gross margin is seen at 2-5%, reflecting expectations for higher inventory reserves due to the inventory left over from the second quarter.

Canadian Solar also confirmed its forecast for annual shipments of between 1.8 GW and 2 GW.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.811)

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