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Last Update: 11-Mar-13 07:38 ET
Canadian Solar shares fall 5% following miss on earnings
Canadian Solar (CSIQ $3.52 -0.21) reported fourth quarter loss of $1.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.18 worse than the Capital IQ two est avg of ($0.83), while revenues fell 37.8% year/year to $294.8 million versus the $295.63 mln two est average. Total solar module shipments in Q4 were 404 MW, compared to 384 MW in 3Q12 and 436 MW in 4Q11. Total solar module shipments in Q4 included 15.7 MW in the Company's total solutions business, compared to 21.1 MW in Q3 and 16.3 MW in 4Q11. By geography, in Q4, sales to European markets represented 40.6% of net revenue, sales to North America represented 20.0% of net revenue, and sales to Asia and all other markets represented 39.4% of net revenue, compared to 47.9%, 24.9% and 27.2%, respectively, in Q3 and 46.5%, 26.9% and 26.6%, respectively, in 4Q11. Gross margin in Q4 was 5.0%, compared to 2.2% in Q3 and 8.7% in 4Q11. The Company's business outlook is based on mgmt's current views with respect to operating and market conditions, its current order book, and the challenging industry environment, which continues to result in customer demand uncertainty. For Q1, the co expects photovoltaic module shipments to be in the range of ~290MW to 310MW, with gross margin expected to be between 8.0% and 10.0%. For FY13, the company expects photovoltaic module shipments to be in the range of ~1.6GW to 1.8GW (+10% at midpoint after shipments grew 16.6% in FY12), including modules used in our total solutions business. "Clearly, our strategic decision to focus on the downstream total solution business several years ago has proven to be the right one. This is highlighted by our success at building scale in this business in low risk countries such as Canada, Japan and the U.S. Our total solutions business capability and project pipeline, supported by our low cost manufacturing capability, position us well for the next phase of growth in the solar power industry. Our focus for 2013 is on returning to profitability on a full year basis."
