① In response to a number of business issues, the exchange requested the company to explain whether there was a risk of other risk warnings being implemented; ② the exchange required the company to explain whether it was steady and prudent to invest in the photovoltaic cell business across the border through Jiayue New Energy in the early stages; ③ On the same day, the company announced the termination of the Tongling investment project.
Financial Services Association, March 18 (Reporter Liu Mengran) The timing of the shutdown was vague. The progress of the N-type project was not discussed behind closed doors. After Lingda Co., Ltd. (300125.SZ) issued a temporary shutdown announcement on March 15, it raised further questions. After today's market, the company received a letter of concern from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange requesting further explanation of the reasons for the suspension of production and plans to resume production. It was mentioned that the company needs to explain whether there is a risk of being exposed to other risk warnings being implemented.
At the same time, the company announced that it plans to end investment in the construction of a 20 GW high-efficiency photovoltaic cell industrial base with an annual output of 20 GW in Tongling. The project initially plans to invest about 9.150 billion yuan, and the first phase is to build a 10GW-Topcon high-efficiency battery production line with an annual output of 10GW-TOPCON. The Jinzhai project was postponed, the Tongling project was officially terminated, Lingda Co., Ltd.'s N-type battery production capacity construction was blocked, and the company's cross-border “chase of light” path faced major challenges.
A number of important matters were disclosed in vague terms
On March 14, a reporter from the Financial Services Association confirmed exclusively on the spot that Jiayue New Energy's Jinzhai plant, a subsidiary of Lingda Co., Ltd., has stopped production, and that the Phase II N-type battery project is also in a state of shutdown. For details, see the report on the same day: Exploring the Jinzhai Battery Base of Lingda Co., Ltd.: The factory has stopped production, and construction of the N-type battery project has stalled
Lingda PV's cross-border “sweet at the beginning and end of suffering”: demand for P-type batteries is declining, and new entrants are unable to keep up with technological iteration
The day after the publication of the above set of manuscripts, Lingda Co., Ltd. announced the temporary cessation of production on March 15.
However, the long-overdue announcement did not address a number of key issues. Jiayue New Energy's main business is the manufacture of monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. The most recent annual revenue share of this business was 95.50% and 94.45%, respectively. In the announcement, the company only stated that it “recently temporarily suspended production of its high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cell production line.”
Lingda Co., Ltd. did not disclose any disclosure regarding the complete cessation of production of such an important subsidiary until the Financial Association published an exclusive report. In the letter of concern, the exchange requested the company to further explain the exact time when Jiayue New Energy stopped production, whether the company promptly disclosed the discontinuation notice in accordance with the “GEM Stock Listing Rules (2023 Revision)”, and whether there were any untimely disclosure of information.
According to the company's plan, the shutdown period is expected to be until April 15, 2024, and the subsequent resumption of production will be promptly disclosed. In the letter of concern, the exchange requested the company to further explain the main response plans to be adopted to resume production, whether it can resume production in a timely and effective manner in accordance with the relevant plans, and fully indicate the risk of not being able to resume production.
At present, Jinzhai Jiayue New Energy Phase I has completed and put into operation a 3.5GW high-efficiency PERC crystalline silicon battery project. Most opinions in the industry are conservative as to whether this production capacity can be resumed as planned. Since last year, technological iterations in the photovoltaic industry have accelerated, and N-type batteries represented by Topcon have been rapidly replaced by previous PERC batteries. According to the latest forecast, N-type products are expected to account for more than 70% of the market this year.
Affected by changes in the main business market, the performance of Lingda shares faces great uncertainty. In the letter of concern, the exchange requested the company to further explain Jiayue New Energy's current PV cell inventory and price reduction preparations, and explain whether to fully calculate inventory price reduction preparations based on the current market price situation.
A Finance Association reporter noticed that as of the first half of last year, the company's battery business was still in a state of strong production and sales, and both production and sales continued to grow year on year. However, judging from performance, the company achieved revenue of about 497 million yuan in the first half of last year, a year-on-year decrease of 27.16%. Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 3.2433 million yuan, which was negative for many consecutive quarters.
Why is it “difficult to make money” due to strong production and sales? In the letter of concern, the exchange issued a “soul torture” against Lingda Co., Ltd. across borders, requesting that the company further explain whether it was steady and prudent to invest in the PV cell business across borders through Jiayue New Energy in the early stages in terms of staffing, technology development and reserves, core equipment procurement, business model, competitive differences with companies in the same industry, customer acquisition capabilities, etc.
Investment of nearly 10 billion dollars announced the end
In fact, Lingda Co., Ltd. has already carried out an N-type battery production capacity layout plan, which mainly includes the 5GW high-efficiency crystalline silicon battery production capacity planned by the company's Jinzhai Jiayue New Energy Phase II project and the 10GW high-efficiency crystalline silicon battery production capacity planned by the Tongling Jiayue New Energy Phase 1 project. After the two projects were put into operation, the total production capacity of the company's N-type Topcon reached 15 GW.
However, the Financial Services Association reporter saw from on-site observation that the second phase of the Jinzhai Jiayue Renewable Energy Project has not yet completed plant construction, there is still a gap between completion of the main project, and construction has already stopped. In response, the Financial Services Association reporter asked the company's securities department about the progress, but received no effective response.
In the letter of concern, the exchange requested the company to further explain the current investment progress of the Tongling project, the specific reasons why it did not meet the company's expectations, and explain whether there is a risk of termination of the next construction plans and arrangements based on the company's financial situation, the strength of partners, and competition in the photovoltaic market.
However, the company has already provided an answer to this question in advance. According to the latest announcement, the company plans to terminate investment in the construction of a 20 GW high-efficiency photovoltaic cell industrial base project in Tongling with an annual output of 20 GW.
The total investment of the project is about 9.15 billion yuan. According to the initial plan, the main plant of the first phase of the project is expected to complete equipment installation and commissioning in March 2024 and put into operation for the first batch; full production is expected to be completed around June 2024. However, according to the project progress disclosed on March 4 this year, due to the decline in the price of high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells, it has put some pressure on the company's operations in the short term. At the same time, due to various factors, the construction progress of the first phase of the company's Tongling project has not met expectations.
This evening, the company officially announced the termination of the project. Among the reasons, the company mentioned that the project construction was affected by various factors such as the macro environment, changes in the photovoltaic industry market environment, the financing environment, project construction implementation conditions, and the cooperation progress of the parties involved in the project construction, so the project was unable to advance the construction progress according to the original plan.
The termination of the nearly 10 billion dollar project was announced, but the company insisted in the announcement that the matter was a prudent decision made by the company based on various factors and the current management situation. It has positive significance in reducing investment risk, conforms to the company's overall interests, will not have a significant adverse impact on the company's current production and operation, and there are no circumstances that harm the interests of shareholders, especially small and medium shareholders.
P-type production capacity is discontinued, and N-type production capacity may be postponed or terminated. The future technology route of Lingda Co., Ltd. is also the focus of the exchange's attention. In this letter of concern, the exchange requested the company to explain whether the relevant production line's plant, equipment and other assets are at risk of impairment, taking into account the discontinuation of production of Jiayue New Energy's photovoltaic cell production line, technical route iteration, cost control capabilities, market competition, etc., and if so, to specify the amount of asset impairment.