Hanwha Q Cells posts USD-52.4m net profit for Q3 2015

Solar cell. Author: Anders Sandberg. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

Solar energy company Hanwha Q Cells Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HQCL) turned to a GAAP net profit of USD 52.4 million (EUR 49m) in the third quarter of 2015 (Q3) from a loss of USD 14.2 million in the preceding quarter.

The nine-month bottom line result was also positive at USD 17.8 million.

The company said on Thursday that in Q3 shipment growth accelerated, its all-in internal processing cost fell below USD 0.40 per watt, gross margins jumped to over 20% and its downstream pipeline topped 1.2 GW. “The final quarter of 2015 looks equally bright with shipments expected to rise by 50% or more quarter-to-quarter,” commented Seong-woo Nam, chairman and CEO.

Details on Q3 performance and Q4 expectations are available in the table:

(figures in USD)	Q3 2015	Q2 2015	Q4 forecast
GAAP net profit (loss) attributable to shareholders	52.4 million	(14.2 million)	N/A
Operating profit	40.3 million	1.0 million	N/A
Gross margin	21.8%	17.3%	over 20%
Revenue	427.2 million	338.0 million	N/A
Module shipments	805 MW	614 MW	1.2-1.4 GW

Hanwha Q Cells pointed out that in Q3 its operating costs as a percent of revenues fell to 12.3% from 17.0% the previous quarter. This improvement was attributed to a growing shipment and revenue base, and the more efficient sales and marketing expenses associated with rapidly accelerating sales volumes. The company expects operating expenses as a percent of revenues to approach 10% by the end of 2015.

For the full 2015 Hanwha guided for gross margins of about 19%, module shipments of 3,200 MW-3,400 MW and capital expenditure of USD 280 million related to photovoltaic (PV) cell and module capacity expansions and manufacturing technology upgrades. By mid-2016, the group expects to have 5.2 GW of both cell and module production capacity, with about half located in Korea and Malaysia from where it can ship modules duty free to the US.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.936)

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