Hong Kong

Investors in debt-saddled PV developer GCL New Energy will have to wait at least another month before a vote on a proposed project sale to a Chinese state-owned entity which would bring benefits of $526 million.

The board of bailed-out Singyes Solar has bought back $18.4 million worth of notes issued in Singapore in late December and also hoovered up $240,000 worth which were unclaimed in the fundraising round.

Xinyi Solar reported record profits earlier this month, not surprisingly prompting bullish talk of extending its plans to expand production capacity this year and next. However, with PV demand in Europe key to its returns, the company has accepted the coronavirus epidemic may have an impact this year.

The bailed-out Hong Kong-listed PV developer has warned its remaining independent shareholders of a thumping net loss for 2019 as it prepares to reveal its final results at the end of the month.

GCL-Poly has pulled its commitment to inject US$68m into a 30 GW production capacity wafer fab joint venture established with Tianjin Zhonghuan in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, citing a preference to focus on ‘more competitive products’.

The planned disposal of more than a third of the Chinese solar company’s project portfolio would take a significant chunk out of its debt mountain but trading in company stock was halted this morning, pending an announcement in relation to the project sale. Shunfeng sold off German PV project monitoring business meteocontrol to another operation owned by its main shareholder at the end of last year.

Ganfeng Lithium blamed a falling lithium salt price for its expected woes, rather than the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on operations which it spelled out last month.

The proposed acquisition by state-owned China Huaneng of 294 MW of GCL project capacity in China has been delayed a second time.

Zhang Ping, a 30-year coal-fired power industry veteran, has taken the helm at Hong Kong-listed Panda Green, days after a $230 million bail-out by state-owned Beijing Energy Holding Co Ltd.

The twice-postponed $230 million investment which will see Chinese state-owned Beijing Energy acquire a 32% stake in Hong Kong-listed developer Panda Green has finally gone through. The developer now has five months to drum up enough to pay off two more of its other three state-owned backers.