Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (YGE) said preliminary results for the
fourth quarter and all of 2012 are "significantly higher" than
expected.
Yingli expects its photovoltaic module shipment for the fourth quarter to
increase about 40% from the third quarter, higher than its previous guidance of
a low-teen-percentage increase.
For 2012, PV module shipment is expected to reach about 2.3 gigawatts, above
the high end of its full year shipment guidance of 2.1 GW to 2.2 GW.
Yingli also said that, for the fourth quarter, it expects its gross margin to
be in the range of negative 8% to 8.5%. This is because the company will have
to recognize a noncash charge of inventory provision and will be hurt by a
depreciation expense related to underutilized capacity.
The announcement comes after the Chinese solar-products maker in January said
it expected shipments for 2012 to be at the high end of its latest guidance,
citing a strong fourth quarter.
A glut of supply and weakened demand in key European markets have been
challenges for the solar sector as a whole, although Yingli had said it
anticipated improved demand in 2012.
In November, the company said its third-quarter loss widened significantly as
module sales continue to slide.
American depositary shares closed Thursday at $2.98 and were inactive
premarket. The stock has more than doubled in the past three months.