Panda Green posts $512 million net loss

Panda Green has posted a RMB3,598 million ($511.6 million) net loss for 2019, from a net loss of RMB454 million a year earlier, as group revenue edged up year on year to RMB2,168 million, according to its unaudited full-year results.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization from continuing operations rose slightly from the preceding year to RMB1,901 million, the Chinese solar developer said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange last week. It primarily attributed its full-year loss to RMB1,556 million of impairment charges on intangible assets, in addition to other unrelated impairment charges.

By the end of December, Panda Green was operating roughly 1.9 GW of solar capacity across 57 locations in China, down from 2.33 GW at the end of 2018. The bulk of its PV installations are ground-mounted solar projects, but it continues to operate a small number of rooftop PV arrays, it said. It had previously operated a handful of solar plants in the United Kingdom, but it sold the assets to an undisclosed buyer in 2019 for £34 million ($42.4 million).

Panda Green’s 2019 net loss is broadly in line with a profit warning it issued in March. In February, Beijing Energy Holding finalized a twice-delayed HK$1.79 billion (US$231 million) acquisition of a 32% stake in the heavily indebted solar developer.