China Solar reports $4.2m loss in 2008 despite revenue surge
RECHARGE News
Officials say increased expenditure for capital projects and acquisitions, and higher inventory costs, pushed the company into the red. Sales increased 44% to $53.7m from a year earlier.Results were also adversely affected by lower selling prices and gross margins in the solar heater division, says Deli Wu, chief executive of China Solar & Clean Energy Solutions (CSOL).
Based in Beijing, CSOL had $2.5m net income in 2007. It is a leading manufacturer and distributor of solar hot water and space heating devices in China, and also builds small boilers and stoves that operate with biomass fuel.
Wu notes that the Chinese government’s initiatives to expand availability and access to electricity in rural China will create “substantially higher demand for our products and solutions.’’
He also cites strong demand for solar-powered energy saving devices and water heating systems in China’s far-flung network of universities.
The company’s distribution and marketing network will be expanded in the coming years and give it a competitive advantage as China more fully embraces renewable energy, he says.
Government financing for energy saving household devices will also improve consumer access to the company’s products, he says.
