① Saiwu Technology's Q1 phototransfer film product shipments increased year-on-year in 2024. The company expects that future phototransfer film shipments will also increase dramatically. ② Last year, N-type film shipments doubled year-on-year, accounting for nearly 40% of total shipments. The company aims to continue to increase the proportion of N-type film shipments in 2024. ③ The first overseas production site in Vietnam is scheduled to be put into operation by the middle of this year, while a production site in Xuancheng, Anhui is also being planned.
Finance Association, April 30 (Reporter Wu Chao) In the wave of the photovoltaic industry shifting from P-type to N-type, cost reduction and efficiency have always been a core requirement. Photoconversion, which can increase the power generation capacity of heterojunction (HJT) batteries, has also quickly attracted market attention.
This afternoon, PV material supplier Saiwu Technology (603212.SH) had in-depth discussions with investors on the company's performance, photovoltaic film transfer business, and other strategic layout issues.
At the performance meeting, investors paid particular attention to the company's light-to-film business. In response to market share issues, Wu Xiaoping, chairman of Saiwu Technology, revealed that within 2023, the company will be the only domestic supplier to achieve batch supply of optical conversion films. He also said that the company's optical transfer film products have become the standard for HJT components and are a core auxiliary material to accelerate the industrialization process of heterojunction.
“Throughout 2023, the company's optical transfer film shipments reached 26.62 million square meters, and the number of suppliers expanded from the first few to more than 20 companies, including Huasheng, Elken, Mingyang, Guosheng, Quanwei, Runhai, Longji, Tongwei, and Liansheng, covering almost all of the world's major HJT manufacturers. In the first quarter of 2024, shipments of phototransfer film products increased year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2023.” Wu Xiaoping believes that with the expected increase in HJT component shipments, the company's photoconversion film shipments will also increase dramatically.
According to the financial report released by Saiwu Technology yesterday, in 2023, the company achieved operating income of 4.166 billion yuan, an increase of 1.22% over the previous year; realized net profit of 104 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 39.50%; and achieved a gross profit margin of 10.74%, a decrease of 2.30 percentage points over the previous year.
Among them, due to price reductions in the industrial chain, the packaging film products (including optical transfer film) contributed the most to the company's revenue, with a gross margin of 6.44%, which is a low level among the company's major products, and a decrease of 1.31 percentage points from the previous year.
Regarding the latest market development situation for phototransfer film products, Saiwu Technology revealed that testing of phototransfer film products at Dongfang Risheng is ongoing and is expected to be completed in the next few months. In addition, the company's photoconversion film products have been tested by many overseas photovoltaic companies. The company also stated that the current price of the company's optical transfer film is competitive in the market.
Regarding future strategic planning, Saiwu Technology believes that the company's strategy is to speed up the shipment of encapsulating films for N-type TopCon modules as P-type batteries switch to N-type batteries. In 2023, the total shipment volume of packaging film used for N-type module Topcon and HJT batteries was 104.62 million square meters, an increase of more than 200% over the previous year, accounting for 39.23% of the company's total annual encapsulating film shipments. The company aims to continue to increase the proportion of N-type film shipments in 2024.
At the same time, in order to meet market demand and promote continuous business development, Saiwu Technology is also actively expanding production capacity and overseas markets.
According to the company, in the backplane business, it is planned to speed up the production line speed of different products by 20%-50% through technological reform. By increasing production capacity through technical reform, investment in fixed assets can be reduced and costs controlled. In the adhesive film business, the company's first overseas production base in Vietnam is scheduled to be put into operation in mid-2024, achieving the first step of going overseas; at the same time, the phototransfer film production base in Xuancheng, Anhui is also being planned, with a planned phototransfer film production capacity of 6GW in the first phase.
There are also questions from investors. In recent years, there are many application fields involved in Saiwu technology, so what is the significance of this strategic layout. In response, Wu Xiaoping said that the company's vision is to become a platform-based enterprise in diverse application fields and become a champion in different market segments. To this end, the company insists on diversified development in R&D, production and sales of polymer functional materials in the form of thin films. The application scenarios cover various fields such as photovoltaic materials, electric vehicle materials, consumer electronics materials, and semiconductor materials. This diversified strategic layout not only enhances the company's resilience to risks, but also brings more opportunities for growth.