Trina Solar lifts 2015 shipments guidance after strong Q3

Trina Solar Ltd (NYSE:TSL) lifted its 2015 shipments forecast to 5.5 GW-5.6 GW, after reporting record third-quarter (Q3) shipments and a non-GAAP net profit of USD 18.3 million (EUR 17.2m).

The Chinese solar products maker today announced module shipments of 1,703.2 MW for Q3, which is 60.1% more than a year ago. External shipments accounted for 1,353.2 MW of that, while the rest were used in Trina’s downstream photovoltaic (PV) projects.

Shipments rose thanks to growing demand from China and the US, Trina’s top markets, and emerging markets such as India and Thailand. As a result, Q3 revenues were also up 28.5% year-on-year.

Despite that growth, Trina Solar posted a net GAAP loss of USD 20.0 million because of a USD-45-million settlement with Solyndra LLC. There were also unfavourable currency fluctuations. The positive non-GAAP net result excludes the Solyndra effect.

More details on the firm’s financial performance are available in the table.

The Q3 gross margin fell sequentially as a result of lower average selling prices and a change in the sales mix with more shipments made to China and emerging markets. Trina pointed out that new and emerging markets were its third largest destination for shipments over the past two quarters.

The company expects module shipments of 1,500 MW to 1,650 MW in the fourth quarter, including 1,350 MW-1,450 MW to third party customers. For the full year, it raised its shipments forecast to 5.5 GW-5.6 GW from the original guidance of 4.9 GW-5.1 GW.

In the downstream segment, Trina Solar connected 251.9 MW of capacity to the grid in Q3 and reiterated its full-year forecasts for 700 MW-750 MW of completed projects.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.941)

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