Sunpower returns to profitability with 1Q earnings of $17.3 mil

Revenue for the quarter rose 81.1% to RMB 621.5 million, compared to RMB 343.2 million a year ago, mainly attributed to an increase in revenue from the group’s Green Investment (GI) business from the Changrun and Xinyuan projects, as well as an increase in the group’s manufacturing and services (M&S) revenue as its order book increases.

Similarly, cost of sale also increased 90.7% y-o-y to RMB 489.0 million, bringing 1Q18 gross profit to RMB 132.5 million, 52.9% higher than RMB 86.7 million a year ago.

Other operating income was 55.0% higher at RMB 8.62 million from RMB 5.56 million last year.

Administrative expenses increased 49.8% y-o-y to RMB 59.4 million, while exchange loss increased by 78.3% y-o-y to RMB 6.38 million.

Other operating expenses jumped 186.8% y-o-y to RMB 2.19 million and finance costs surged 143.4% to RMB 25.8 million.

During the quarter, the group posted fair value gains on convertible bonds of RMB 51.1 million, compared to a loss of RMB 105.0 million in the previous year.

Guo Hong Xin, executive chairman of Sunpower says, “China is in desperate need of resolving its severe smog pollution problems. We are well-positioned to capitalise on these enormous market opportunities right away with our unique competitive advantages with proprietary technology, know-how and management expertise.”

“We firmly believe that the fundamental measure of our success is our ability to create shareholders’ value. We see GI as our value creator and growth driver which forms the bulk of our value, and will stay very focused on building a sizeable and valuable portfolio of GI assets which generates long-term, recurring and high-quality cash flows.”

Shares in Sunpower closed 1 cent higher at 50 cents on Monday.