GUELPH, ON, Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Canadian Solar Inc. (“Canadian Solar” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

 

Highlights

• Solar module shipments of 3.9 GW in the third quarter of 2021, in line with guidance of 3.8 GW to 4.0 GW.
• Revenue increased 34% year-over-year (“yoy”) to $1.23 billion, in line with guidance of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion.
• Gross margin of 18.6%, above guidance range of 14% to 16%.
• Net income attributable to Canadian Solar of $35 million, or $0.52 per diluted share.
• 2.9 GWh of battery storage projects under construction and 21 GWh of total storage development pipeline.
• Continuing to make progress on the carve-out IPO of the CSI Solar subsidiary.

 

Third Quarter 2021 Results

Total module shipments in the third quarter of 2021 were 3.87 GW, a 22% year-over-year (“yoy”) increase and 6% quarter-over-quarter (“qoq”) increase. Of the total, 173 MW was shipped to the Company’s own utility-scale solar power projects.

 

Net revenues in the third quarter of 2021 were up 34% yoy and down 14% qoq to $1,229 million. The sequential decline primarily reflects the lower revenue from pre-construction project sales, or projects sold at notice to proceed (“NTP”). This was partially offset by a higher module average selling price (“ASP”). The yoy improvement was driven by an increase in module shipments and ASPs.

 

Gross profit in the third quarter of 2021 was $229 million, up 24% qoq and 28% yoy. Gross margin in the third quarter of 2021 was 18.6%, above guidance of 14% to 16% driven by higher margin contribution from project sales, higher module ASPs, manufacturing efficiency gains, and a benefit from U.S. anti-dumping (“AD”) and countervailing duty (“CVD”) true up. Gross margin was 17.6%, if excluding the AD/CVD true-up benefit of $12 million.

 

Total operating expenses in the third quarter of 2021 were $176 million compared to $158 million in the second quarter of 2021. The sequential increase was mainly driven by higher shipping and handling expenses, partially offset by an increase in other operating income.

 

Non-cash depreciation and amortization charges in the third quarter of 2021 were $71 million, compared to $66 million in the second quarter of 2021, and $56 million in the third quarter of 2020.

 

Net foreign exchange loss in the third quarter of 2021 was $14 million, compared to a net loss of $3 million in the second quarter of 2021 and a net loss of $13 million in the third quarter of 2020. The net foreign exchange loss was mainly driven by the strengthening of the U.S. Dollar against currencies such as the Brazilian Real.

 

Income tax benefit in the third quarter of 2021 was $3 million, compared to $2 million of income tax benefit in the second quarter of 2021 and $21 million of income tax expense in the third quarter of 2020. The benefit was a result of the utilization of net operating losses.

 

Net income attributable to Canadian Solar in the third quarter of 2021 was $35 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, compared to net income of $11 million, or $0.18 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2021. On a non-GAAP basis, net income attributable to Canadian Solar was $28 million, or $0.42 per diluted share. This excluded a $7 million AD/CVD true-up benefit, net of income tax effect and AD/CVD provision true-up attributable to non-controlling interests. For a reconciliation of results under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) to non-GAAP results, see the accompanying table “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures”.

 

The increase in basic shares outstanding was primarily due to the issuance of 1.1 million and 2.6 million shares in connection with the at-the-market equity offering program for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively. The increase in diluted shares outstanding was primarily due to the dilutive effect of convertible notes in the third quarter. For the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the number of ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of the convertible notes, which were dilutive and included in the computation of diluted earnings per shares, was 6.3 million shares.

 

Net cash used by operating activities in the third quarter of 2021 was $29 million, compared to $61 million in the second quarter of 2021. The operating cash outflow was mainly driven by an increase in project assets and net working capital.

 

Total debt was $2.3 billion, as of September 30, 2021, compared to $2.2 billion, as of June 30, 2021. The increase in total debt was mainly driven by an increase in working capital facilities and project financing. Non-recourse debt used to finance solar power projects increased to $558 million as of September 30, 2021, from $454 million as of June 30, 2021.

 

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 global network and strong brand recognition 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 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 in different segments 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 September 30, 2021, the Company’s total project pipeline was 23.8 GWp, including 1.6 GWp under construction, 5.0 GWp of backlog, and 17.2 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, and entered into 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

The Company has 348 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 September 30, 2021:

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.

 

Solar Power Plants and Battery Storage Projects in Operation

As of September 30, 2021, the Company’s solar power plants in operation totaled 432 MWp, with a combined estimated net resale value of approximately $360 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.

 

Note: Gross MWp size of projects, includes 81 MWp in Latin America and 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.

 

CSI Solar Segment

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

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.

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

*Excludes sales from CSI Solar to Global Energy.

 

CSI Solar shipped 3.9 GW of modules to nearly 70 countries in the third quarter of 2021. The top five markets ranked by shipments were China, the U.S., Brazil, Germany and Thailand.

 

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 O&M 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 September 30, 2021.

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.

 

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.

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