Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Trina Solar Swings To 4Q Profit As Revenue Jumps, Costs Fall (TSL)

UPDATE: "Trina Solar Q4 2009 Supplemental Earnings Call Presentation (TSL)"
Original post:
The stock is up 2.87% at $23.62 in pre-market trading.
From the Wall Street Journal:

Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) swung to a fourth-quarter profit as sales rose and the company saw record volume. Results topped Wall Street's estimates.

The solar-power industry has seen signs of improvement in recent months. But the market is expected to remain challenging over the next year, as supply is expected to exceed demand. Analysts are also concerned about a proposed cut on subsidies to solar-power providers in Germany, a largest solar market. But Lazard Capital Markets said Trina maintains one of the most diversified sales channels in Europe, which should help limit pricing pressure as Trina could redirect products elsewhere.

On Wednesday, the Chinese maker of solar-energy systems posted a profit of $49.2 million, or 74 cents per American depositary share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $673,000, or a penny per ADS. Revenue grew 45% to $313.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 60 cents on revenue of $284 million.

Gross margin grew to a better-than-expected 32.6% from 9.6% amid lower silicon costs....

Here's the press release, the company didn't mention the effect of their use of the U.S. dollar as their 'functional' currency although I don't see how it could hurt, especially in their European operations. I'll have to check the filing for this rather esoteric (but multi-million dollar) detail.

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE:TSL - News) ("Trina Solar" or the "Company"), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009.

    Fourth Quarter 2009 Financial and Operating Highlights
-- Solar module shipments were approximately 164 MW, compared to the
Company's previous guidance of 145 MW to 165 MW, representing an
increase of 33.5% sequentially and 184.3% year-over-year
-- Net revenues were $313.3 million, an increase of 25.4% sequentially and
44.8% year-over-year
-- Gross margin was 32.6%, above the Company's guidance of 25% to 27%,
compared to 28.5% sequentially and 9.6% year-over-year
-- Operating income and operating margin were $64.4 million and 20.6%,
respectively, compared to $45.5 million and 18.2%, respectively, in the
third quarter of 2009
-- Net income was $49.2 million, compared to $40.1 million in the third
quarter of 2009
-- Earnings per fully diluted American Depositary Share ("ADS") were $0.74,
compared to $0.65 in the third quarter of 2009

...MORE