Canadian Solar Projects K.K.

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2021-08-30news

CANADIAN SOLAR REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2021 RESULTS

GUELPH, ON, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Canadian Solar Inc. (“Canadian Solar” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

 

Highlights

  • Solar module shipments of 3.7 GW in the second quarter of 2021, top end of 3.5 GW to 3.7 GW guidance.
  • Revenue increased 105% year-over-year (“yoy”) to a record $1.43 billion, in line with guidance of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion.
  • Gross margin of 12.9%, ahead of guidance range of 9.5% to 10.5%.
  • Net income attributable to Canadian Solar of $11 million, or $0.18 per diluted share.
  • 1.5 GWh of battery storage projects under construction and 19 GWh of total storage development pipeline.
  • Published the ESG Sustainability Report with updated disclosures aligned with global standards on July 29, 2021.
  • Carve-out IPO of CSI Solar subsidiary remains on track.

 

Second Quarter 2021 Results

Total module shipments in the second quarter of 2021 were 3.66 GW, a 26% yoy increase and 17% quarter-over-quarter (“qoq”) increase. Of the total, 167 MW was shipped to the Company’s own utility-scale solar power projects.

 

Net revenue in the second quarter of 2021 grew by 105% yoy and 31% qoq to $1,430 million. The sequential improvement was driven by an increase in module shipments and average selling price (“ASP”), growth in beyond-module sales and a higher revenue contribution from battery storage shipments, partially offset by lower project sales.

 

Gross profit in the second quarter of 2021 was $185 million, down 5% qoq but up 26% yoy. Gross margin in the second quarter of 2021 was 12.9%, above guidance of 9.5% to 10.5% driven by higher module ASP, manufacturing efficiency improvements and a greater contribution from battery storage shipments and beyond-module sales. Sequentially, the second quarter gross margin was below first quarter 2021 gross margin of 17.9% mainly driven by lower project sales margin due to a geographic mix shift.

 

Total operating expenses in the second quarter of 2021 were $158 million compared to $151 million in the first quarter of 2021. The sequential increase was mainly driven by higher shipping and handling expenses and a decrease in other operating income, partially offset by a customer claim reversal.

 

Non-cash depreciation and amortization charges in the second quarter of 2021 were $66 million, compared to $62 million in the first quarter of 2021, and $48 million in the second quarter of 2020. The sequential increase was driven by CSI Solar’s capacity expansion as reflected in higher property, plant and equipment.

 

Net foreign exchange loss in the second quarter of 2021 was $3 million, compared to a net loss of $7 million in the first quarter of 2021 and a net loss of $5 million in the second quarter of 2020.

 

Income tax benefit in the second quarter of 2021 was $2 million, compared to $14 million of income tax expense in the first quarter of 2021 and $9 million of income tax expense in the second quarter of 2020. The benefit reflected lower effective tax rate and lower impact from high tax jurisdictions.

 

Net income attributable to Canadian Solar in the second quarter of 2021 was $11 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared to net income of $23 million, or $0.36 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2021. The decline in net income was driven by lower gross profit and higher operating expenses, partially offset by the income tax benefit.

 

Net cash used by operating activities in the second quarter of 2021 was $61 million, compared to $83 million in the first quarter of 2021. The operating cash outflow was mainly driven by an increase in accounts receivable and a continued increase in inventory, as a result of capacity expansion as well as a tactical hedge against input cost and ASP inflation. This was partially offset by higher accounts and notes payables.

 

Total debt in the second quarter of 2021 was $2.23 billion, compared to $2.28 billion in the first quarter of 2021. The decrease in total debt was mainly driven by a reduction of project financing upon project sales, partially offset by new borrowing and existing facility drawdowns. Non-recourse debt used to finance solar power projects decreased to $454 million in the second quarter of 2021 from $522 million in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of project sales.

 

Battery Storage Opportunities

Canadian Solar is strategically positioned in the battery storage market, both in solar plus battery storage, as well as in stand-alone storage opportunities. The rapid growth of the energy storage market is driven by technology improvements, declining battery storage costs, rising penetration of renewable energy and accelerating retirements of fossil fuel capacity.

 

Canadian Solar has a strong brand recognition and global network given its leadership in both module manufacturing and solar project development. Both CSI Solar and Global Energy have focused strategically on their respective energy storage businesses:

 

  • Under Global Energy, energy storage project development is now fully integrated within the main solar development teams. Given the segment’s large and growing pipeline, it is positioned to capture utility-scale energy storage projects.
  • Under CSI Solar, the battery storage solutions team focuses on delivering bankable, end-to-end, integrated battery storage solutions for utility scale, commercial and industrial, as well as residential applications. These systems solutions will be complemented with long term service agreements, including future battery capacity augmentation services.

 

While there are synergies between the Global Energy and CSI Solar teams, both operate independently and on different sections of the battery storage value chain. The project pipeline for each team should be assessed independently. Please refer to the Global Energy and CSI Solar sections of this document for specific pipeline figures.

 

Solar Project Pipeline

As of June 30, 2021, the Company’s total project pipeline was 22.2 GWp, including 1.7 GWp under construction, 4.1 GWp of backlog, and 16.4 GWp of earlier stage pipeline. The backlog includes projects that have passed their Risk Cliff Date and are expected to be built in the next one to four years. A project’s Risk Cliff Date depends on the country where the project is located and is defined as the date on which the project passes the last high-risk development stage. This is usually after the projects have received all the required environmental and regulatory approvals, interconnection agreements, feed-in tariff (“FIT”) arrangements and power purchase agreements (“PPAs”). Over 90% of projects in backlog are contracted (i.e., have secured a PPA or FIT), and the remaining are reasonably assured of securing PPAs.

 

The Company’s pipeline includes early- to mid-stage project opportunities currently under development but that are yet to be de-risked.

 

The following table presents the Company’s total project pipeline.

Total Project Pipeline(as of June 30, 2021) – MWp
Region

In Construction

Backlog Pipeline

Total

North America 115 744 4,900 5,759
Latin America 981* 2,100 4,310 7,391
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) 455* 3,632 4,087
Japan 145 236 72 453
Asia Pacific excluding Japan and China 347 191 1,547 2,085
China (part of CSI Solar) 80 403 1,920 2,403
Total 1,668 4,129 16,381 22,178
*Note: Gross MWp size of projects includes 573 MWp in construction in Latin America,

and 110 MWp in backlog in EMEA, that are not owned by Canadian Solar or have been sold to third parties.

The Company has 381 MWp of premium, high FIT projects in Japan. The table below sets forth the expected COD schedule of the Company’s project backlog in development and construction in Japan, as of June 30, 2021:

 

Expected COD Schedule – MWp

2021 2022 2023 and
thereafter
Total
31 190 160

381

 

Battery Storage Project Pipeline

The Global Energy segment has been actively developing utility-scale solar plus energy storage projects, as well as stand-alone battery storage projects. The Company found that virtually all its solar power projects under development can co-host energy storage facilities and has done so since the first quarter of 2021. By co-hosting energy storage facilities with solar power plants on the same piece of land and using the same interconnection point, the Company expects to significantly enhance the value of its assets under development.

 

Canadian Solar has already signed several storage tolling agreements with a variety of power purchasers, including community choice aggregators, investor-owned utilities, universities, and public utility districts. The Company has also signed development services agreements to retrofit operational solar projects with battery storage, many of which were previously developed by the Company.

 

The table below sets forth Global Energy’s storage project development backlog and pipeline.

Storage Project Development Backlog and Pipeline (as of June 30, 2021) – MWh
Region In Construction Backlog Pipeline Total
North America 1,501 800 9,285 11,586
Latin America 4,505 4,505
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) 1,242 1,242
Japan 19 19
Asia Pacific excluding Japan 1,910 1,910
Total 1,501 800 16,961 19,262

 

Solar Power Plants and Battery Storage Projects in Operation

As of June 30, 2021, the Company’s solar power plants in operation totaled 391 MWp, with a combined estimated net resale value of approximately $390 million to Canadian Solar. The estimated resale value is based on selling prices that Canadian Solar is currently negotiating or transaction prices of similar assets in the relevant markets.

Solar Power Plants in Operation – MWp

Latin America Japan Asia Pacific 

ex. Japan and China

China

Total

100

28 61 202

391

Note: Gross MWp size of projects, includes 26 MWp in Asia Pacific ex. Japan and China already sold to
third parties. China portfolio is part of CSI Solar.

 

Operating Results

The following table presents unaudited select results of operations data of the Company’s Global Energy segment.

June 30,2021

Global Energy Segment Financial Results

(In Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Percentages and Unless Otherwise Stated)

Three Months Ended Six Months Ended

June 30,

2021

March 31,

2021

June 30,
2020*
June 30,

2021

June 30,

2020*

Net revenues 280,614 471,062 32,433 751,676 274,983
Cost of revenues 268,855 358,037 29,080 626,892 183,014
Gross profit 11,759 113,025 3,353 124,784 91,969
Operating expenses 15,632 27,944 17,991 43,576 45,777
Income (loss) from operations (3,873) 85,081 (14,638) 81,208 46,192
Gross margin 4.2% 24.0% 10.3% 16.6% 33.4%
Operating margin -1.4% 18.1% -45.1% 10.8% 16.8%
*Historical amounts for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2020 have been revised to conform to current period presentation

 

CSI Solar Segment

CSI Solar’s 2021 and 2022 capacity expansion targets are detailed below.

 

Manufacturing Capacity, GW (as of period end)

FY20 Actual 1H21 Actual FY21 Plan
Ingot 2.1 5.1 5.1
Wafer 6.3 8.7 11.5
Cell 9.6 13.3 13.9
Module 16.1 19.7 22.7

Note: CSI Solar’s capacity expansion plans are subject to change without notice based on market conditions and capital allocation plans.

 

Operating Results

The following table presents unaudited select results of operations data of the CSI Solar segment for the periods indicated.

CSI Solar Segment Financial Results* 

(In Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Percentages and Unless Otherwise Stated)

Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
June 30,
2021
March 31,
2021
June 30,
2020**
June 30,
2021

June 30,

2020**

Net revenues 1,183,958 695,152 709,180 1,879,110 1,398,927
Cost of revenues 1,028,470 627,694 551,812 1,656,164 1,079,390
Gross profit 155,488 67,458 157,368 222,946 319,537
Operating expenses 140,516 120,126 79,484 260,642 157,472
Income (loss) from operations 14,972 (52,668) 77,884 (37,696) 162,065
Gross margin 13.1% 9.7% 22.2% 11.9% 22.8%
Operating margin 1.3% -7.6% 11.0% -2.0% 11.6%
Includes effects of both sales to third party customers and to the Company’s Global Energy Segment. Please refer to the
attached financial tables for intercompany transaction elimination information. Income from operations reflects
management’s allocation and estimate as some services are shared by the Company’s two business segments
** Historical amounts for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2020 have been revised to conform to current
period presentation

The table below provides the geographic distribution of the net revenue of CSI Solar:

CSI Solar Net Revenues Geographic Distribution* (In Millions of U.S. Dollars, Except Percentages)
Q2 2021 % of Net
Revenues
Q1 2021 % of Net
Revenues
Q2 2020 % of Net
Revenues
Asia 527 46 240 39 265 40
Americas 421 37 261 42 211 32
Europe and others 201 17 117 19 187 28
Total 1,149 100 618 100 663 100

*Excludes sales from CSI Solar to Global Energy.

 

CSI Solar shipped 3.7 GW of modules to nearly 80 countries in the second quarter of 2021. The top five markets ranked by shipments were China, the U.S., Brazil, Germany and Japan.

 

Battery Storage Solutions

 

Within CSI Solar, the battery storage solutions team delivers competitive turnkey, integrated battery storage solutions, including bankable and fully wrapped capacity and performance guarantees. These guarantees are complemented with long term operations and maintenance agreements, which include future battery capacity augmentation services and bring in longer term, stable income.

 

The table below sets forth CSI Solar’s battery storage system integration’s contracted projects and/or under construction, those in high probability forecast, and pipeline, as of June 30, 2021.

Contracted/

In Construction

Forecast Pipeline Total
Storage (MWh) 861 1,400 4,351 6,612

 

Contracted/in construction projects are expected to be delivered within the next 12 to 18 months. Forecast projects include those that have more than 75% probability of being contracted within the next 12 months, and the remaining pipeline includes projects that have been identified but have a below 75% probability of being contracted.

 

Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-solar-reports-second-quarter-2021-results-301354209.html

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.

Isabel Zhang, Investor Relations, Canadian Solar Inc., investor@canadiansolar.com; David Pasquale, Global IR Partners, Tel: +1-914-337-8801, csiq@globalirpartners.com

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