On the same day, the two leading photovoltaic companies announced that the interim report disclosure was postponed for one day. Tomorrow evening, the top five photovoltaic leaders will release their interim reports at the same time. In the first half of the year, the prices of main products in the industry chain continued to decline. Whether Trina Solar and JinkoSolar can continue to make profits is the biggest suspense.
On August 29th, according to CLS (Caixin), as the mid-year earnings season is coming to an end, the answers from the photovoltaic industry leaders will be revealed at the last moment. After the market closed today, Longi Green Energy (601012.SH) and Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438.SH) announced that they will delay the disclosure of their 2024 interim reports until August 31, 2024. According to CDMAR, the original scheduled date for the interim report disclosure of these two companies was August 30th, and according to the practice, the semi-annual reports should be released after the market closes on August 29th.
Both companies stated that the delay was due to the arrangements related to the semi-annual reports. In addition to JA Solar Technology (002459.SZ), Trina Solar (688599.SH), and JinkoSolar (688223.SH), which were originally scheduled to disclose their interim reports after the market closed on August 30th, the top five photovoltaic industry leaders will release their financial reports tomorrow evening.
According to the shipment statistics from InfoLink, JinkoSolar, JA Solar Technology, Trina Solar, and Longi Green Energy ranked top four in component shipments in the first half of the year. There is a significant difference in shipments compared to manufacturers with lower rankings, with these top four manufacturers accounting for approximately 63% of the total shipments in the top ten this year. Although Tongwei Co., Ltd. only entered the component market in the second half of 2022, its shipments in the first half of this year ranked fifth.
However, based on the disclosed performance forecasts, due to the continuous downturn in the industry chain, photovoltaic companies generally experienced a situation where "quantity increases while profits decrease." Longi Green Energy is expected to have a net loss of 4.8 billion to 5.5 billion yuan in the first half of the year; Tongwei Co., Ltd. is expected to have a net loss of 3 billion to 3.3 billion yuan, and the loss in the second quarter has worsened; JA Solar Technology is expected to have a net loss of 0.8 billion to 1.2 billion yuan in the first half of the year.
As for the reasons for the losses, the above-mentioned companies all mentioned the rapid decline in mainstream product prices. Tongwei Co., Ltd. previously stated in response to investor questions that the first quarter is considered the traditional off-peak season for the photovoltaic industry, and the demand temporarily weakened during this period, resulting in an overall decline in industry prices. In addition, part of the PERC cell capacity of the company was in the upgrading and renovation phase during the first quarter, leading to operating losses.
The companies also stated that the price trend of the industry chain mainly depends on the market supply and demand relationship. The progress of new capacity landing in the industry and the gradual elimination of backward capacity still need to be further observed. However, under the background of the overall long-term positive outlook for demand, the industry will ultimately achieve sound and sustainable development.
Trina Solar and JinkoSolar have not disclosed their performance forecasts for the first half of the year. Based on the financial reports for the first quarter, JinkoSolar achieved operating income of 23.084 billion yuan, a YoY decrease of 0.3%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.176 billion yuan, a YoY decrease of 29.09%; Trina Solar achieved revenue of 18.256 billion yuan in the same period, a YoY decrease of 14.37%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 0.516 billion yuan, a YoY decrease of 70.83%.
Although the net income of these two companies declined year-on-year in the first quarter, they still achieved profitability. Facing the continuous decline in prices of main industry chain products in the second quarter and the continuous decline in industry profitability, whether the net income of the two top component manufacturers in the first half of the year can continue to be positive will also be revealed tomorrow night.
It is worth mentioning that top companies have started to respond to the over-depressed prices in the industry chain and promote the industry to move away from low-price competition by adjusting prices. On August 27th, Longi Green Energy officially raised the quote for silicon wafers, with an N-G10L quote of 1.15 yuan/piece and an N-G12R quote of 1.3 yuan/piece, averaging an increase of 5 cents/piece in the new quote. At the same time, another leading wafer company, TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology (002129.SZ), also raised its silicon wafer prices, with a G10 N price of 1.15 yuan/piece, a G12R N price of 1.3 yuan/piece, and a G12 N price of 1.5 yuan/piece.
Industry insiders believe that price adjustments by leading companies have certain guiding implications. If the price adjustment goes smoothly, it may have a certain reversing effect on the market structure where current products have generally fallen below the cash cost, but the price competition will also become more intense.