A couple of items from the struggling solar panel sector are showing how the industry is limping forward, receiving minor rescue loans to continue funding operations while manufacturers await a bigger rescue package from Beijing. I can only guess that the bigger package, which has been talked about for much of the last half year, will finally be rolled out by the middle of this year. That will finally allow the industry to try and put itself on more sustainable long-term footing instead of continuing to limp forward in this current state of malaise.
Tag Archives: LDK
Solar Shares Shine, JA Shuffles 光伏企业股价回光返照 行业尚待重组
After more than a year of coming under constant assault, shares of solar panel makers have suddenly received an unexpected boost from investors who are suddenly showing renewed interest in the battered sector. Many are attributing the sudden surge in solar stocks to growing signs that China will soon embark on a massive building spree of new solar power plants, which should theoretically provide a major new business opportunity for solar panel makers who have been posting massive losses for more than a year now.
News Digest: January 8 报摘：2013年1月8日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Xinhuanet Applies For IPO (English article)
- Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Self-Manufacture All Computers in 3-5 Years – Source (English article)
- LDK (NYSE: LDK) Solar Regains Compliance with NYSE Listing Requirements (PRNewswire)
- Bloomingdale’s Celebrates the Chinese New Year (Businesswire)
- Agricultural Bank (HKEx: 1288) Completes Investment in Jiahe Life (HKEx announcement)
Foreign Banks Cool to Solar, Beijing Steps In 光伏业融资遇冷 中国政府挑担子
A few of the latest headlines reflect a cooling appetite by foreign banks for funding solar energy related projects, creating a worrisome vacuum that Beijing may need to fill as it seeks to stop struggling sector from sinking further still. Two of the latest such headlines look like particular cause for worry, with Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) taking over financial responsibility for a solar power project from one of its construction partners for unspecified reasons that I suspect are related to waning interest by foreign banks in funding such projects. (company announcement) Another similar recent domestic media report says that a Chinese company that insures solar panel sales has just made its biggest-ever payment to JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) after the panel maker couldn’t collect payment from one of its overseas customers. (Chinese article)
News Digest: January 4 报摘：2013年1月4日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Lenovo (HKEx: 992), EMC (NYSE: EMC) Create Network Attached Storage JV (Businesswire)
- Top 10 Chinese Solar Panel Makers Have Up To 110 Bln Yuan in Debut (Chinese article)
- LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Announces Purchase Agreement for LDK Anhui (PRNewswire)
- SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) Pays $127 Mln For Property, To Become New Shanghai HQ (PRNewswire)
- China Telecom (HKEx: 728) Completes Purchase of CDMA Networks From Parent (Chinese article)
Solar Bits: LDK Woes, Hanwha Loan 光伏行业困境依旧
A couple of news bits from the solar sector are showing at once how companies continue to struggle with fallout from the ongoing downturn even as some larger players continue to receive lifelines from Beijing. In the former category, floundering giant LDK (NYSE: LDK) has just announced an arbitration panel’s ruling that it must pay hundreds of millions of yuan for equipment that it ordered at the height of the solar boom but which it no longer wants or needs. Meantime in the latter category, mid-sized player Hanwha SolarOne (Nasdaq: HSOL) has just received a major new credit line from a Beijing bank, becoming the latest to get state funding to continue its operations pending the roll-out of a larger industry overhaul plan.
News Digest: December 28 报摘： 2012年12月28日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Alibaba Group to IPO in 2013 – Source (English article)
- Taiwan’s Fubon (Taipei: 2881) Says To Buy China Bank Stake For $1 Bln (English article)
- LDK (NYSE: LDK) Ordered to Pay 297 Mln Yuan in Arbitration Ruling (PRNewswire)
- 8 Authors Win 400,000 Yuan in Copyright Case Against Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) (Chinese article)
- Diodes (Nasdaq: DIOD) to Acquire BCD Semiconductor (Nasdaq: BCDS) (Businesswire)
Good News Hides Woes at Spreadtrum, LDK 展讯通信和江西赛维释放利好掩盖问题
Cellphone chipmaker Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) and solar panel maker LDK (NYSE: LDK) are both using good news as a smokescreen to draw attention away from bigger bad news, with the former announcing a new dividend and the latter a minor victory in a business dispute. In both cases, each company is grappling with much bigger problems that have caused their share prices to sag as investors lose interest in their tarnished growth stories. In LDK’s case the situation is much worse, with the company essentially being supported by the government as it teeters on the brink of insolvency.
News Digest: December 14 报摘： 2012年12月14日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- iPhone 5 Hits China As Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Market Share Slips (English article)
- Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) China Adds Kindle Store Channel (English article)
- Sinopec (HKEx: 386) Enters E-Commerce, Sells Gas, Goods Online (Chinese article)
- Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD) Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend (PRNewswire)
- LDK (NYSE: LDK) Solar Announces Arbitration Award (PRNewswire)
Solar Rallies on New Beijing Subsidies 中国政府新补贴使太阳能股反弹
China’s solar panel industry is starting to look more and more like a beggar kneeling on the doorstep of Beijing, with the latest word that the central government is preparing to hand out an additional $1.1 billion in subsidies to the struggling sector. That news comes just after a government official was quoted saying Beijing is considering a plan to double its already ambitious target for a massive building spree of new solar electricity plants, again in a bid to support the struggling sector.
Solar: LDK Cuts, First Solar in China 中国光伏产业：几家欢喜几家愁
There’re quite a few news bits coming from the solar sector today, with more downbeat news from struggling LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) even as 2 western panel makers make important new inroads to the China market. Meantime, Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is also getting some good news in the form of new financing from a major western commercial lender for a new solar power project in Canada.
