Canadian Solar revenue dips significantly in first quarter

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Canadian Solar has reported significant drop in its revenue in Q1 2019 due to the shift of sales into 2018 from 2019, and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system upgrade that impacted manufacturing.

Canadian Solar posted revenue of $484.7 million in the first quarter of 2019 vs $901 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 and $1.42 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

The ERP system upgrade resulted in 5 days of work stoppage at several manufacturing facilities.

Canadian Solar said solar module shipments in the first quarter of 2019 were 1,575 MW, compared to 1,951 MW in the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter 2019 guidance of 1.3 GW to 1.4 GW.

Total solar module shipments in the first quarter of 2019 included 52 MW shipped to the company’s utility-scale solar power projects. Solar module shipments recognized in revenue in the first quarter of 2019 totaled 1,423 MW, compared to 2,076 MW in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 1,765 MW in the first quarter of 2018.

Canadian Solar said total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2019 were $100.8 million, compared to $134.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 and $65.7 million in the first quarter of 2018.

Canadian Solar said gross profit in the first quarter of 2019 was $107.4 million, compared to $271.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 and $143.9 million in the first quarter of 2018. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2019 was 22.2 percent, compared to 28.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Canadian Solar’s utility-scale solar project pipeline, including those in construction, totaled approximately 3.4 GWp, with 1,525 MWp in the U.S., 482.6 MWp in Brazil, 368 MWp in Mexico, 294.8 MWp in Japan, 100 MWp in China and 651.5 MWp in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Italy and South Korea.

Canadian Solar expects solar module shipments to be in the range of approximately 1.95 GW to 2.05 GW in the second quarter of 2019.

Canadian Solar’s gross margin for the second quarter is expected to be 13-15 percent, reflecting the inclusion of the Mustang project sale, which has a lower gross margin based on the enterprise value of the project, not equity.

Yan Zhuang, acting chief executive officer of Canadian Solar, said: “We focus on monetizing the 3.4 GWp of assets in our late-stage, utility scale solar power project pipeline and redeploying that capital into attractive project opportunities to ensure our future success.”