Yingli Q4 Shipments Jump, Bottom Line Red

Photovoltaic (PV) products manufacturer Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE) booked total revenues of RMB 2.53 billion ($370.8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 13.7% quarter-on-quarter and 43.7% year-on-year, with PV module shipments up 15.7% sequentially, the company reported March 9. Gross margin grew both sequentially and annually to 29.6%. The company made a net loss of RMB 44.8 million ($6.6 million), or a diluted loss per American depositary share (ADS) of RMB 0.30 ($0.04), in the quarter, compared with net income of RMB 120.8 million in the prior quarter and RMB 82 million in the year-ago period. The company attributed the loss to a non-cash impairment equivalent to RMB 131.2 million ($19.2 million) and a non-cash bad debt expense of RMB 184.3 million in the fourth quarter.

For the full year, Yingli recorded a net loss of RMB 459.2 million ($67.3 million), or diluted loss per ADS of RMB 3.31 ($0.48). Total net revenues for the full year 2009 were RMB 7.25 billion ($1.06 billion), roughly flat with the previous year, while PV module shipments expanded 86.6% year-on-year to 525.3 MW, beating the company's previously stated guidance of 490-500MW.

The company expects to ship 950MW to 1GW of PV modules in 2010, representing year-on-year growth of 80.8-90.4%, according to the report.

In a separate statement the same day, Yingli also announced plans to expand its PANDA mono-crystalline silicon-based manufacturing capacity at its Baoding headquarters by 300MW. The project will be financed with RMB 1.5 billion by Bank of Communications (3328.HK, 601328.SH), which will also extend Yingli a working capital credit facility of RMB 250 million, according to the announcement.