The monocrystalline ingot, wafer and module manufacturer posted 2016 earnings report last week, with revenue reaching RMB11.5 billion for the year, and net profit RMB 1.547 billion.
LONGi's 2016 financial results show that the company posted RMB11.531 billion in revenue, an increase of 93.89% from last year, and net profit of RMB1.547 billion, a significant increase of 197.36% from 2015. Earnings per share stood at RMB 0.86, an increase of 177.42%. The weighted average return on net assets after deductions (WARA) was 21.15%, an increase of 9.18 percentage points, and the consolidated gross profit margin was 27.48%, an increase of 7.11 percentage points from the previous year.
LONGi's noticeable improvement in performance is due to the company's successful effort in breaking free from traditional business model of relying solely on solar wafer, and adding module business to drive revenue growth.
Last year, solar module sales reached RMB5.7 billion, surpassing sales of silicon wafer (5.075 billion yuan), and became the company's revenue "cash cow." The module business gross margin of 27.2% is far higher than that of the solar cell and polycrystalline silicon businesses, and is closing in on the 28.16% margin for wafer business. The healthy profit margin led to the net profit of RMB1.547 billion for the year.
LONGi will continue capacity expansion for solar cell and module business. A few projects are well under way: 500MW solar cell and module fab in India, vertically integrated ingot/wafer/cell/module, facility in Kuching, Malaysia, including 500MW cell and module, and 2GW cell and module manufacturing lines in Taizhou.
Meanwhile, in February of this year, leading research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance, included LONGi Solar (formerly Lerri Solar) in its Tier 1 module supplier list. LONGi Solar president Li Wenxue commented, "By the end of last year, our monocrystalline module production capacity had reached 5GW, and the target for the end of this year is 6.5GW. LONGi anticipates to deliver 4.5GW of solar cell and module this year.
While we will continue to expand our customer base and increase revenue, LONGi strives to maintain reasonable profit margin that will enable us to grow healthy and consistently. We are committed to the continuous improvement of our products and the enhancement of our technology, as we rely on product performance and quality to attract new customers and add value to our business."
About LONGi
LONGi (SSE: 601012), headquartered in Xi'an, China, is a global green energy technology company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our solar solutions business help customers maximize the reliable landing of terminal value through LONGi PV industry chain, LONGi Lifecycle Quality. Our Hydrogen business helps ensure human comfort and health, advance energy efficiency and create sustainable zero-carbon infrastructure. LONGi became the first Chinese solar energy company to join the RE100, EV100, EP100 and SBTi initiatives, set up to promote zero-carbon solar and sustainable development. For more information visit www.Longi.com.