Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) swung to a net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has made a net loss of $13.33 million, or $ 0.23 a share in the quarter, against a net profit of $62.30 million, or $1.05 a share in the last year period. On an adjusted basis, the company has earned $14.17 million, or $0.24 a share for the quarter.
Revenue during the quarter plunged 40.33 percent to $668.43 million from $1,120.28 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 1057 basis points over the previous year period to 7.32 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 1.76 percent as compared to a positive 9.40 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $11.76 million, compared with an operating income of $105.28 million in the previous year period.
Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer of Canadian Solar, remarked: "Results for the fourth quarter and full year 2016 were inline with our expectations, other than the unfavorable preliminary ruling on AD/CVD rates by U.S. Department of Commerce. We achieved record high total solar module shipments in the fourth quarter and the full year 2016. Despite strong demand levels, our revenue for both the fourth quarter and full year was lower compared to the prior year's periods due to the industry-wide declines in average selling price that have been persistent all year. We will continue to work to offset any negative impact of future declines in average selling price with the introduction of new products and through our supply chain and manufacturing efficiency programs. Importantly, we are actively monetizing our operating solar power plant assets. This includes the recent sale of five operating solar power plants in Canada for over $310 million (two sales closed in the fourth quarter of 2016; three additional sales closed in the first quarter of 2017). In addition, we closed the sales of two operating solar power plants in China in the fourth quarter of 2016 for over $32 million. We are also well underway in the sale process of our operating solar power plants in the U.S. and are targeting closure in the coming months. We plan to continue to execute on our strategy in the downstream energy business of developing solar power projects for sale to end customers, so as to deleverage our balance sheet and redeploy our capital to support the profitable growth of our business."
For financial year 2017, Canadian Solar Inc. projects revenue to be in the range of $4,000 million to $4,200 million.
For the first-quarter, Canadian Solar Inc. projects revenue to be in the range of $570 million to $590 million.
Debt increases substantially
Canadian Solar Inc. has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $2,434.16 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 25.50 percent or $494.56 million from $1,939.59 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
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