Canadian Solar, a leading solar module supplier and solar system manufacturer, has reported $623.8 million in net revenue for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 33.8 percent sequentially and 64 percent year over year.
In the second quarter of 2014, the solar PV major shipped approximately 646 megawatts and achieved gross margin of 19 percent.
The company recorded gross profit in the quarter at $118.2 million, compared to $68.6 million in Q1 and $48.7 million in the comparable period last year.
The increase in revenue was primarily driven by strong module sales and the sale of the company’s Val Caron project in Ontario to a unit of Concord Green Energy.
The second quarter figure is also significant because it is the highest net income the company ever recorded for a quarter. The net income for the quarter has reached approximately US$56 million.
Delivering the results, Michael G. Potter, SVP and CFO of Canadian Solar, said, the company invested in working capital in the first part of the year, so they are able to realize their plans for the second half of the year. Canadian solar has also started getting the returns of the investments it had in the Japanese and the U.S markets.
During the second quarter, Canadian Solar saw strong demand from Japan, North America and Europe. In Japan the company has maintained its position as the leading foreign brand with the shipments of approximately 185 megawatts in the quarter, all under Canadian Solar brand. In Europe, the company has shipped 113MW of solar modules.
The company has seen strong growth in the U.S.; however, they are disappointed with the US Department of Commerce’s countervailing and antidumping preliminary determinations to impose duties of certain solar product import from China and Taiwan.
“Our second quarter results underscore the continued successful execution of our strategy to expand our high-margin total solutions business, which contributed around one third of our total revenue in Q2, compared to around 27 percent in Q1,” said Shawn Qu, president and CEO of Canadian Solar.
Canadian Solar’s global utility-scale project including owned and joint-venture projects as well as EPC services contracts, now stands at approximately 1.3-gigawatt pipeline. In major developments in Q2, Canadian Solar completed the sale of one utility-scale solar power plant in Canada valued at over C$60 million to an affiliate of Concord Green Energy. It also entered into an EPC agreement with Kingston Solar, a partnership formed by Samsung for the construction of 140-megawatt DC utility-scale solar energy plant in Kingston, Ontario.
Canadian Solar expects to accumulate 600 megawatt pipeline in Japan by the end of 2014. The company has started construction of its first utility scale plant totaling 1.2 megawatt in Japan. In US, the company’s pipeline of solar project at the end of Q2 totaled 111 megawatt. In China, Canadian Solar has started construction on three projects totaling 80 megawatt in Q3 according to the current permitting schedule.
The company expects Q3 shipments will be in the range of approximately 720 megawatt to 750 megawatt. Revenues for the third quarter of 2014 are expected to be in a range of $760 million to $810 million.