Trina Solar's revenues increase 25%

Trina Solar Limited, which manufactures 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.

The company’s fourth quarter results show the company exceeded expectations for solar module shipments, shipping 164MW compared to the company’s previous guidance of 145MW to 165MW. The increase represented a 184.3 per cent rise year-over-year. The company attributes the sequential increase in total shipments to increased demand in European markets, due, in part, to improved PV system purchase financing conditions in major European markets and increased year-end demand to install new PV systems ahead of annual feed-in tariff adjustments in January in established PV markets including Germany and Italy.

Trina’s fourth quarter net revenues were $313.3m, an increase of 25.4 per cent sequentially and 44.8 per cent year-over-year. The company’s operating income was $64.4m with a 20.6 per cent operating margin, compared to $45.5m operating income and 18.2 per cent margin in the third quarter of 2009.

The recent results reveal Trina’s operating income was up from the previous quarter at $49.2m, compared to $40.1m in the third quarter of 2009 and earnings per share were $0.74 compared to $0.65 in the third quarter of 2009.

‘We are highly pleased with our strong performance in the fourth quarter, which saw a record shipment volume highlighted by a gross margin that exceeded our previous guidance for the quarter,’ said Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. ‘Our increased brand recognition and ongoing commitment to improving customer support in key areas resulted in the near doubling of our shipment volumes and a year-on-year revenue increase in 2009. Although significant ASP declines were felt across the industry, due to effective management and our strong execution capability, we achieved consistently healthy and expanding margins by streamlining our manufacturing processes, enhancing our supply chain, and implementing innovative technologies that improved our manufacturing efficiency.’

In 2009, Trina said it strengthened its balance sheet through its successful follow-on offering in July and a continued to focus on operational cashflow, supporting its market-driven capacity expansion.

Subsequent to the fourth quarter of 2009, the company changed the ratio of its shares from 100 ordinary shares to one American depositary share, to 50 ordinary shares to one American depositary share ratio, which Trina said resulted in the same effect as a two-for-one American depositary share split.

In January 2010, Trina’s European subsidiary obtained a €100m loan facility from a Chinese domestic bank with a term of 15 years.

For 2009, net revenues were $845.1m, an increase of 1.6 per cent from $831.9m in 2008, which Trina said is primarily due to increased shipments that offset decreased ASP. Total shipments shot up 98.5 per cent year-on-year from 201MW in 2008 to 399MW for 2009 and gross profit for the year was $237.2m, 44.2 per cent above $164.4m in 2008. At the end of December 2009, Trina had $478.1m in cash and cash equivalents and its bank borrowings stood at $449.9m.

Trina Solar, founded in 1997 as a system installation company, is a PV manufacturer that manufactures monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells.

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