Hanwha SolarOne posted record shipments of 373.2 MW in the third quarter and a 5.5% year-on-year increase in revenue to CNY 1.2 billion ($195.2 million).
The vertically integrated PV manufacturer also slashed net losses by 49% to $38.16 million and cut its operating loss by 45% to $11.86 million.
The company said the 8.2% revenue increase compared to the second quarter of 2014 was primarily due to higher shipments, which reached a record 373.2 MW a 17.4% increase from the same period a year ago. Module processing services accounted for approximately 10% of revenues.
"Our third quarter results reflect the prevalent industry trends in place: record shipments due to strong demand, lower average selling prices reflecting an increasing proportion of business in China and the negative impact of a strong U.S. dollar in relation to the yen and euro, said Hanwha SolarOne Chairman and CEO Seong-woo Nam. Our revenues improved over 8% quarter-to-quarter in spite of lower pricing. We achieved more than a 3% reduction in production costs quarter-to-quarter, which was not fully reflected in profitability due to the more rapid decline in product pricing."
Nam added that noticeable progress was made in penetrating the large and growing domestic market in China. Shipments to China reached 30% of the companys total volume, over a 400% quarter-over-quarter gain. Hanwha SolarOne also signed several substantial module supply agreements and increased its pipeline of potential downstream projects, the chief exec added, noting that the group also continued to maintain a strong presence in the important Japanese market.
On the manufacturing front, the company began commercial production of its next generation S Series modules, fully automated a number of existing module lines and made "significant progress" towards installing up to 500 MW of new capacity for both cells and modules.
Looking forward, Nam said, "The outlook for the fourth quarter is good. We expect a new record in module shipments, stable to improving average selling prices due to strong module demand and tight supply, and an increase in the proportion of modules sold to higher-priced markets, such as the EU and U.S. We also aim to further reduce manufacturing costs, which should further increase profitability."
Nam also expects the company to begin development of its first independent power producer (IPP) project.
Hanwha SolarOne announced this month that it had signed a five-year agreement to develop 100 MW of distributed generation projects in the Chinese port city of Yantai.
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