China’s Trina Solar Ltd posted a quarterly loss on Monday as the rapid slide in prices for solar panels eroded margins and it said panel shipments would drop in the current quarter, sending its shares lower.
Trina, like others in the solar sector has suffered as a glut of panels on the market pushed prices down by about 40 percent this year.
That has driven share prices down sharply, pushing some companies into bankruptcy and prompting manufacturers to idle some production lines.
Trina fell shares were down 4 percent in post-market trading to $5.98, extending the 3.4 percent drop during the regular session that brought its year-to-date decline to 73 percent.
Trina, one of China’s largest solar makers, said it would reduce output to about 80 percent of capacity in the fourth quarter and that average prices for its panels would fall to about $1.10 per watt from $1.25 in the third quarter.
Its third-quarter net loss was $31.5 million, or 45 cents per American depositary share, after a profit of $82.9 million, or $1.08 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues slipped 5 percent to $481.9 million.
The company took a $19.1 million writedown in the value of its inventory, as well as a $10.5 million writedown for unpaid accounts from customers.
Trina shipped about 370 megawatts of solar panels during the third quarter and said that figure would slip to 320-350 MW in the fourth quarter.
Earlier this month, Trina cut its sales and overall gross margin forecast for the second time three months, citing weak financing for some European projects and steep declines in prices for solar equipment.
Following a complaint by some solar manufacturers, the Obama administration said it would investigate whether Chinese solar companies have been selling panels into the United States at unfair discounts.
That trade complaint also contended that billions of dollars in state bank loans to Chinese companies has given them an advantage over their rivals outside the country, although those loans may now be weighing the Chinese solar sector down.
