SHANGHAI, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., (Nasdaq: JASO) a leading manufacturer of high-performance solar products, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009.
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First Quarter 2009 Results
Revenue in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 231.7 million ($33.9 million), a decrease of 79.4 percent from RMB 1.1 billion ($164.2 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and a decrease of 76.3 percent from RMB 979.0 million ($143.3 million) reported in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Total gross loss in the first quarter was RMB 142.7 million (a loss of $20.9 million), compared with gross profit of RMB 235.9 million ($34.5 million) in the first quarter of 2008, and gross profit of RMB 9.7 million ($1.4 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Inventory provision at the end of the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 138.4 million ($20.3 million), an increase of RMB 60.4 million ($8.8 million) compared with the balance at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.
Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2009 were RMB 50.4 million ($7.4 million), compared with RMB 72.3 million ($10.6 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and RMB 130.8 million ($19.1 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Included in operating expenses was an RMB 11.9 million ($1.7 million) non-cash stock based compensation charge related to the hiring and retention of key employees in the first quarter of 2009. Stock based compensation charged to the income statement amounted to RMB 53.9 million ($7.9 million) and RMB 32.3 million ($4.7 million) for the first quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2008, respectively. Operating loss in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 193.1 million (a loss of $28.3 million), compared with operating income of RMB 163.6 million ($23.9 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and operating loss of RMB 121.1 million (a loss of $17.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Net loss per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 1.20 (a loss of $0.18), compared with net income per diluted ADS of RMB 0.99 ($0.15) in the same period of 2008 and net loss per diluted ADS of RMB 0.68 (a loss of $0.10) in the fourth quarter of 2008.
At March 31, 2009, JA Solar had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 1.7 billion ($249.2 million), compared with RMB 1.9 billion ($282.4 million) at Dec. 31, 2008. Total working capital at March 31, 2009 was RMB 2.6 billion ($385.2 million). The company repurchased RMB 42.4 million ($6.2 million) of convertible bonds in the first quarter of 2009, and the convertible bonds outstanding as of March 31, 2009 were RMB 2.2 billion ($315.3 million). Total credit facility available at March 31, 2009 was RMB 1.5 billion ($213.7 million), of which RMB 520.0 million ($76.1 million) has been drawn down.
'The first quarter of 2009 was the most challenging quarter for JA Solar since the company was founded in 2005,' said Samuel Yang, CEO of JA Solar.
