News Article
First Solar Revenues Up 12% To $588 Million
Although net sales were an up, income per fully diluted share was $1.84, down from $2.11 in Q2 2009 and from $2.00 in Q1 2010.
Compound semiconductor and advanced photovoltaic technology manufacturer First Solar has announced an increase in its quarterly revenues as part of its second quarter results for 2010.
Quarterly net sales were $587.9 million, up 12% from $525.9 million in the second quarter of 2009, due to increased production volumes and systems revenue, partially offset by a decline in pricing and lower euro exchange rates. Second quarter 2010 net sales increased $19.9 million from the first quarter of 2010, primarily due to increased turnkey system sales.
Second quarter net income per fully diluted share was $1.84, down from $2.11 in the second quarter of 2009 and down from $2.00 in the first quarter of 2010. Year over year, the declines were primarily driven by lower module average selling prices, and higher operating expenses that were partially offset by increased module production and lower module cost per watt. Quarter over quarter, the declines were primarily driven by higher operating expenses.
PV module manufacturing cost was reduced to $0.76/watt, down $0.05 from the prior quarter and 13% year over year. Annual throughput per line was up 6% quarter over quarter to 59.0 MW. This increases announced or operating capacity from 2.1 to 2.2 GW by 2012.
For 2010, First Solar forecasts net sales of $2.5 to $2.6 billion, reflecting reallocation of module capacity from our systems business to meet stronger module demand by our European customers. Earnings per fully diluted share are increased to a projected range of $7.00 to $7.40 which includes a $0.20-$0.23 reduction for a foreign exchange assumption change from $1.30/euro to $1.20/euro and $0.09-$0.10 per share dilution for the completed acquisition of NextLight Renewable Power.
Total capital spending is projected to be $575 to $625 million. The company expects to generate $575 to $625 million of operating cash flow. First Solar has posted its Second Quarter Earnings Call
Presentation, which includes guidance for fiscal 2010 and additional details regarding the key assumptions relating to this guidance, in the Investor section of its website at http://www.firstsolar.com.
First Solar discussed these results and the outlook for fiscal 2010 in a conference call last week.
A replay of the webcast is available on the Investor section on the Company's website for approximately 90 calendar days. Subscribers of FactSet or Thomson One can obtain a written transcript within two hours.
