Bottom line: A new second wave of consolidation is likely to occur in China’s solar panel sector later this year, with money-losing companies like Yingli and ReneSola as the most likely acquisition targets.
New clouds loom over solar sector
Looming signs of new trouble are brewing in the solar panel sector, with shares of Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) taking a bath after the company reported widening losses and slowing revenue growth. The 15 percent sell-off saw Yingli’s shares re-approach an all-time low from just 2 and a half years ago, as the company joined a small but growing club of US-listed solar panel makers whose shares now trade in the $1-2 range.
Yingli’s announcement makes it the last of China’s major solar panel makers to report their fourth-quarter results, painting a picture that hints of more consolidation on the way for a sector that has already undergone a painful restructuring over the last 2 years. Two camps are emerging: One that is profitable, including names like Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) and Trina (NYSE: TSL); and one that is losing money, which includes Yingli and ReneSola (NYSE: SOL), which became the charter member of the $1 club when its shares sank below $2 last November. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new wave of overseas investment by Chinese solar panel makers should ease western complaints of unfair state-support and provide a more solid foundation for the sector’s longer-term development.
Solar panel makers migrate overseas
As a settlement to avoid anti-dumping tariffs for Chinese solar panels exported to Europe showed signs of unraveling last week, a new report emerged that showed a more positive trend for a sector that has become the subject of nonstop trade wars over the last 4 years. That newer trend has seen a growing number of embattled Chinese solar panel makers set up overseas factories, helping them to avoid punitive anti-dumping tariffs imposed by the US on their domestically produced goods. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A widening investigation into violations of an anti-dumping solar panel settlement between China and the EU is likely to result in punitive sanctions, dealing a blow to the Chinese panel makers.
Solar settlement unravels
What started as some quiet rumblings earlier this week is quickly brewing into a major storm, with word that a landmark settlement between the EU and China a year ago to resolve an anti-dumping dispute over solar panels is quickly unraveling. In this case it’s probably more accurate to say the settlement was between the EU and actual Chinese solar panel makers, rather than an agreement between governments. That’s an important distinction, since Chinese companies are often far more likely to try to undermine such agreements by exploiting loopholes, unlike central governments that are usually a bit more trustworthy. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The EU is likely to resolve its latest dispute with Chinese solar firms over implementation of a year-old pricing agreement, but the clash will undermine trust and hints at future conflict over the issue.
Canadian Solar denies violating EU agreement
After several months of relative quiet, Chinese solar panel makers are back in the headlines this week with another looming trade dispute in Europe. This particular story, and much of the industry’s woes over the last 2 years, stems from broader western allegations of unfair government support for Chinese panel makers. In this case China and the EU signed a deal a year ago to resolve their dispute, but now the EU is accusing several Chinese firms of violating the deal.
The EU had previously threatened to levy punitive tariffs on Chinese panel makers, saying they received unfair support through policies like cheap loans from state-run banks and low-cost land from local governments. Washington made similar claims and ultimately did impose punitive tariffs, but the EU took a more conciliatory approach and reached a settlement after the intervention of several top government leaders. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Says Tech Firms Have Nothing To Fear From Anti-Terror Law (English article)
China’s Net Mobile Users Could Shrink This Year – Unicom (HKEx: 762) Chief (Chinese article)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Q4 And Full Year 2014 Results (PRNewswire)
Phoenix SatelliteTV (HKEx: 3002) Warns Of 24-32 Pct Profit Drop For 2014 (HKEx announcement)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches 4G Roaming Services in 71 Countries And Regions (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Complaints of problems from a major solar plant builder reflect the difficulty of new construction in China, and could wreak havoc on the sales and finances of panel makers and their construction partners.
Solar entrepreneur Shi complains of bureaucracy
Two solar energy news items are showing both the attraction and also the frustration that developers are feeling as they try to build new clean-energy power plants to help China wean itself from its dependence on fossil fuels. On the attraction side of the story, the industry has just won a major new backer in the form of insurance giant Ping An (HKEx: 2318; Shanghai: 601318), which is teaming up with panel maker Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) in a new plant-building initiative.
But the frustrations that many plant builders are feeling were on prominent display in a separate report that cited another major developer complaining of the difficulties of new construction. Those kinds of complaints aren’t really new, and are being caused by provincial government interference and other local issues in the many remote locations where new plants are being built. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Merger Speculation Sends Chinese Telecom Shares Higher (English article)
Metal Trading Site Zhaogang.com Gets $100 Mln In Financing Round (Chinese article)
Trina (NYSE: TSL) To Build Photovoltaic Plants With PingAn Trust, Jiuzhou Investment (PRNewswire)
US Has Raised Concerns With China About New Cyber Rules: Official (English article)
Geely (HKEx: 175) Gets CBRC Approval For Auto Finance JV With BNP Paribas (HKEx announcement)
Bottom line: Emerging details are giving more credibility to LeTV’s new electric car initiative, while solar shares look oversold on plunging oil prices and should rebound later this year.
LeTV soars on new EV details
Mixed signals are coming from China’s green energy sector, where a newly turbocharged LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) is getting a lift on details about its new electric car initiative that includes ties to a technology supplier of US superstar Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). But solar panel makers are moving in the opposite direction, with shares of several reaching or approaching all-time lows over concerns that demand will plummet due to low oi prices. I seldom give direct stock buying advice, but in this case I honestly don’t understand the reasons for this sudden plunge and would strongly consider buying some of these shares that seem quite undervalued right now. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 3-5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Fosun (HKEx: 656) Wins Contest For Club Med As Andrea Bonomi To Drop Bid (English article)
Haier-Evergrande, JD.com-Midea In New Alliances For 2015 (Chinese article)
Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) Receves “Going Private” Proposal at $20 Per ADS (PRNewswire)
Renren (NYSE: RENN) Announces Resignation Of CFO, Board Changes (PRNewswire)
Xiaomi Doubles Revenue to $12 Billion as Phone Sales Triple (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Apple’s Cook Meet China’s Internet Minister In US (English article)
Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) Pop-Up Window Service Shut Down For Pornography (Chinese article)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Acquires 28 Pct Stake In Shuntai Leasing (PRNewswire)
LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) To Acquire Affiliated Le Vision Pictures (English article)
Game Operator Linekong To Make HK IPO December 19, Raise Up To $190 Mln (Chinese article)
Bottom line: The recent plunge in solar stocks is the result of panic selling due to falling oil prices, meaning the shares could rebound sharply once the sell-off subsides.
Falling oil prices cast cloud over solar stocks
US investors were showing signs of new energy indigestion in the shortened trading day after Thanksgiving, dumping stocks of all the major solar panel makers in a messy post-holiday sell-off. With no major news from any of the companies, the driving force behind the sell-off appears to be the recent plunge in oil prices, which hit new 4 years lows late last week after OPEC declined to cut its daily output quotas.
Investors appear to be worrying that falling oil prices will dampen enthusiasm for building new solar plants, since lower oil prices mean solar power will be less competitive with more traditional power sources derived from fossil fuels. The only problem with that logic is that solar power was never competitive with fossil fuels to begin with, meaning solar stocks could be getting punished for no good reason. Read Full Post…
