First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) has reported a 95.33 percent plunge in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $9.13 million, or $0.09 a share in the quarter, compared with $195.64 million, or $1.90 a share for the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter went up marginally by 1.79 percent to $891.79 million from $876.07 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 2225 basis points over the previous year period to 9.44 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 0.90 percent as compared to a positive 20.54 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $8 million, compared with an operating income of $179.92 million in the previous year period.
"Our first quarter results and the sale of our Moapa project are a solid start to 2017," said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer of First Solar. "The transition to our Series 6 product continues to progress from both a technology and commercial standpoint. We are excited about the competitive position of Series 6 and the long-term opportunities it enables."
First Solar, Inc. projects revenue to be in the range of $2,850 million to $2,950 million for financial year 2017. The company projects adjusted operating income to be in the range of $40 million to $80 million. The company forecasts diluted loss per share to be in the range of negative $0.30 to $0.40. The company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.75 on adjusted basis.
Working capital increases sharply
First Solar, Inc. has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $2,803.19 million as at Mar. 31, 2017, up 26.84 percent or $593.16 million from $2,210.03 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Current ratio was at 6.32 as on Mar. 31, 2017, up from 3.08 on Mar. 31, 2016.
Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 38 days for the quarter from 90 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding went down to 40 days for the quarter compared with 52 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 24 days for the quarter compared with 85 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went down to 27 days for the quarter from 47 for the same period last year.
Debt comes down
First Solar, Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $277.36 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 7.34 percent or $21.98 million from $299.34 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Total debt was 4.20 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 3.95 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was almost stable at 0.05 as on Mar. 31, 2017, when compared with the last year.
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