Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) on Tuesday said its attributable net profit plunged 59% year-on-year in the first quarter to USD 9.2 million (EUR 8.6m) despite higher revenue.
The company’s net revenues in the three months improved by 15% on a yearly basis to USD 1.25 billion, underpinned by higher solar shipment volumes, the higher solar module average selling price and the growth of the company’s battery storage business. The increase was partly offset by lower project sales. Solar module shipments reached 3.63 GW, rising 42% in annual terms.
The first-quarter gross margin of 14.5% was at the lower end of the company’s forecast, compared with 17.9% in the year-ago period. On a sequential basis, the margin slipped from 19.7% due to increased raw material costs and the absence of the US anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD).
“First-quarter 2022 shipments, revenue and gross margin all came in as expected, despite the challenging operating environment,” said CEO Shawn Qu.
Details about Canadian Solar’s key financial results are available in the table.
| Amounts in USD million |
Q1 2022 |
Q1 2021 |
|
Net profit attributable to Canadian Solar Inc
|
9.2 |
22.77 |
| Income (loss) from operations |
15.5 |
43.5 |
| -- of which CSI Solar |
31.9 |
(52.7) |
| -- of which Global Energy |
(1) |
85.1 |
| Net revenues |
1,250.3 |
1,089.3 |
| -- of which CSI Solar |
1,210 |
695.2 |
| -- of which Global Energy |
93 |
471.1 |
Net profit attributable to Canadian Solar Inc
The gross margin of the Global Energy Segment, which includes the company’s solar and energy storage project development business, fell to 19.2% from 24% a year back but improved on a quarterly basis. CSI Solar, the unit containing solar module manufacturing, battery energy storage solutions and EPC services, lifted its gross margin to 14.5% from 9.7% in the year-ago period, whereas the result was down from 21.3% recorded in the previous quarter.
Canadian Solar’s total solar project pipeline stood at 23.8 GW at the end of March, while 800 MWp of solar capacity was in operation. The project development backlog and pipeline of its storage segment totalled almost 27.5 GW.
OUTLOOK
Looking ahead, Canadian Solar provided its guidance for the second quarter of 2022 and reiterated its expectations for the full year. Details are given in the table.
| |
Q2 2022 |
Full year 2022 |
| Total module shipments |
4.9 GW-5.1 GW |
20 GW-22 GW |
| Battery storage shipments |
N/A |
1.8 GWh-1.9 GWh |
| Total revenues (in USD) |
2.2bn-2.3bn |
7bn-7.5bn |
|
Gross margin
|
14.5%-15.5% |
N/A |
| Total project sales |
N/A |
2.1 GW-2.6 GW |
Gross margin
The registration of the proposed carve-out IPO of CSI Solar remains on track despite COVID-related hurdles in China, Canadian Solar said.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.935)
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