For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, ReneSola shipped 266.8 MW of modules for external projects.
Module shipments to the Company’s downstream projects during the quarter were approximately 44.3 MW.
Revenue for the quarter was $156.6 million, down 32.5 percent q/q and down 39.9 percent y/y.
The decline in the year-over-year revenue was primarily due to lower module ASP’s and reduced product shipments to external customers, according to company officials.
Gross profit of $1.7 million was down 65.4 percent q/q and 96.1 percent y/y. Gross margin declined to 1.1 percent from 2.1 percent in Q4 2016 and from 17.1 percent in Q1 2016. The sequential margin decline was primarily due to lower module ASP’s as well as annual maintenance of our polysilicon plant.
Total external wafer shipments were 259.2 MW, compared to 305.9 MW in Q4 2016 and 351.0 MW in Q1 2016.
The company recognized revenue of $2.2 million from sale of rooftop projects in China with aggregate capacity of 2.3 MW.
As of June 2, 2017, the Company had a solar power project pipeline of over 1.4GW, of which 613.1 MW are “shovel-ready.”
During the first quarter, ReneSola signed agreements to sell a 6.75 MW of utility project in North Carolina and 1.3 MW of utility projects in Holyoke, Massachusetts with revenue expected to be recognized in Q2 2017.
The company also connected two ground-mounted projects in the UK with a combined capacity of approximately 10 MW; revenue is expected to be recognized in Q2.
Xianshou Li, ReneSola’s chief executive officer, said, “For the second quarter of 2017, we expect downstream project sales to increase when compared to the first quarter of 2017 due to continued growth in our project pipeline and our solid execution in project monetization.”
Li continued, “We remained focused on managing our working capital, controlling costs and improving our balance sheet. We believe these measures have prepared us well to develop sustainably as we progress through the current industry down-cycle.”
LED revenue of $9.6 million was up by approximately 3 percent from $9.3 million in Q4 2016. Gross margin was approximately 30.9 percent. The sequential slowdown in LED revenue growth was largely due to short-term adjustment to product offerings, coupled with inventory management in the quarter.
ReneSola remains optimistic about the growth prospects in LED business. The market for energy efficient products is large and growing rapidly. The Company expects LED business to grow into a meaningful financial contributor in the years ahead.
For Q2 2017, the Company expects revenue in the range of $180 to $200 million, external wafer shipments in the range of 220MW to 240MW and external module shipments in the range of 230MW to 250MW.
For full year 2017, the Company expects revenue in the range of $900 million to $1,000 million.