Yingli Green Energy Awarded Significant Orders from the Golden Sun Program

BAODING, China, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE)  today announced it has been selected as a major PV module supplier to the Gold Sun Program, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Finance of China (the "Program"). 


In November 2010, a total amount of 272 MW PV projects were announced under the Program, to which the Company is expected to supply approximately 70% of the PV modules. 


Under the terms of the Company's secured sales agreements with system owners, the majority of the module shipments are scheduled in the second half of 2011. In addition, according to the guidelines of the Program, the Ministry of Finance will grant 70% of subsidy to the Company once the sales agreements are concluded and the relevant application procedures are fulfilled, which is expected to occur before product delivery.



"We are honored to become a major PV module supplier for the Golden Sun Program, which is a significant business milestone for our expansion in the Chinese solar market," Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy commented. "I am happy to witness that the Chinese government has demonstrated its strong commitment to boost renewable energy utilization in its recently announced Five-Year Plan. 


Meanwhile, the renewable energy industry, including solar energy, has been identified as one of China's strategic emerging industries by the central government of China. 


Earlier today, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the National Energy Administration jointly hosted a meeting to further boost the utilization of renewable energy in China. In the meeting, the Chinese government declared its expectations to further expand its PV project portfolio in the next two years to reach a scale of at least 1,000 MW per year after 2012."


"As a solar pioneer based in China, Yingli Green Energy has demonstrated a firm commitment to the Golden Sun Program. The Company is responding to its mission and responsibility to meet the demand for affordable renewable energy in China by supplying high quality PV products from cutting-edge technologies. In addition, we expect this strategic move in emerging markets will further reduce the dependence on the German market, thus strengthening our long-term development dynamics," Mr. Miao concluded.

Yingli Reports 3rd Quarter 2010 Results

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers, which markets its products under the brand "Yingli Solar," today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010. Third Quarter 2010 Consolidated Financial Highlights Total net revenues were RMB 3,284.2 million (US$490.9 million), and shipment increased by 25.2% quarter over quarter. Gross profit was RMB 1,094.5 million (US$163.6 million), representing a gross margin of 33.3%. Operating income was RMB 735.8 million (US$110.0 million), representing an operating margin of 22.4%. Net income(1) was RMB 456.1 million (US$68.2 million) and diluted earnings per ordinary share and per American depositary share ("ADS") was RMB 2.92 (US$0.44). On an adjusted non-GAAP(2) basis, net income was RMB 556.6 million (US$83.2 million) and diluted earnings per ordinary share and per ADS was RMB 3.57 (US$0.53). Source:   Yingli Green Energy Holding Company

Yingli To Expand Production Capacity By 700 MW

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. has announced 700 MW in capacity expansion projects at its Baoding headquarters and in Hainan province.

The company plans to build 600 MW of PANDA monocrystalline silicon manufacturing lines for monocrystalline ingots and wafers, cells and modules at its Baoding headquarters, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Energy (China) Co. In addition, Yingli plans to build 100 MW of multicrystalline silicon manufacturing lines in Haikou, Hainan Province, through Yingli China.

With the completion of these two new expansion projects, Yingli's capacity will total 1.7 GW. The two new expansion projects are expected to start initial production in mid-2011.

SOURCE: Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd.

Yingli Can Sit Out a Price War—and Profit

While the United States has dithered over how, when, and whether to invest in the energy industries of the future, solar cells and panels have become a commodity business. And that gives a huge edge to China’s solar manufacturers with their significantly lower labor costs. Morningstar estimates that it costs 20% to 30% less to produce a solar panel using traditional solar panel technology in China than in Europe. (Notice, please, the word “traditional.” Thin-film solar technologies are an entirely different ballgame.) That has led to a global price war at a time of an uncertain demand for solar panels as companies try to grab or maintain market share. For investors, price wars always present the danger that competitors will cut their prices so far that they sacrifice profit margins in an effort to grow market share. That’s not a formula that investors want to buy into. So the best news from China’s Yingli Green Energy Holding Co.’s (NYSE:YGE) third-quarter earnings report November 19 was that gross margin stayed extraordinarily healthy at 33.3%. Gross margin beat the company’s guidance for 31% to 32% for the quarter. Gross margin in the second quarter of 2010 was 33.5%, and in the third quarter of 2009, the figure was 22.5%. Operating margin came in at 22.4%. Guidance for the first half of 2011 was not as downbeat as that from other solar panel producers—that’s either a reflection of Yingli’s strong market position or a bit of wishful thinking. (My suspicion is some of both.) The company forecast that average selling prices would be flat in the first half of 2011 and show a slight decline in quarters three and four. It would surprise me if prices were that strong in 2011. Germany, the world’s largest market for solar panels because of generous government support, has said it will cut subsidies by 13%. Spain and the United States, other big solar markets, are under extreme budget pressure. All this as the global solar industry, including Chinese solar producers, is expanding capacity. This is where a second Yingli advantage comes into play. Besides lower labor costs, Chinese solar manufacturers have access to extremely cheap financing. That enables a company like Yingli to invest in a new silicon plant, set to go into production at the end of 2010, even though the returns on that investment are likely to be relatively low. But although that plant isn’t likely to be cost-competitive with the best silicon producers in the world, Yingli will, by cutting out the middleman’s profit for the key raw material in making traditional solar panels, be able to raise its own gross margins. Higher gross margins would give Yingli a choice between grabbing market share while maintaining current margins and increasing its profits. With China in the midst of a solar energy drive that is on track to make China the world’s largest solar market by 2014, that’s not a bad choice to have. (And since Chinese officials are very good at devising methods to give Chinese companies preferential access to China’s markets without violating global trading rules, I expect that the bulk of that growth will go to Chinese solar manufacturers. That could be why Yingli is so confident about demand and average selling prices in 2011.) I was going to wait a few days to see if I could get these shares for less than $11, but lo and behold, the stock dropped to $10.76 on Monday. So as of November 22, I’m adding shares of Yingli Green Energy Holdings to  Jubak’s Picks with a target price of $16 a share by October 2011. YINGLI GREEN ENERGY HOLDING CO. LTD. ADS (NYSE:YGE) Source:  Jubak's Picks