Hareon still to report Losses

Major Chinese solar panel maker Hareon which is listed on the Chinese stock exchange, reported a doubling of its loss in the first half of 2013 to almost $42 million. The whole industry is seeing green shoots with stabilization in solar panel prices and increasing demand from China and Japan. Even the big Chinese solar panel makers are reporting better than expected shipments and gross margins. Jinko Solar (JKS) became the first Chinese company to report net profits after it GM surged to almost 18% in the current quarter.

Hareon on the other hand, has seen its margins go down reporting a net margin of negative 13%. This is alarming for the company as the industry is on an upturn and even the worst solar companies are reporting better numbers. Hareon is one of the largest Chinese solar panel makers and has a presence in the major countries. The company shook up its top management firing 3 directors recently. I don’t expect that most of the Chinese solar companies will survive despite the improvement in industry fundamentals. There are still a hundred solar panel companies that are running in China and that is too many in my view. The Chinese government has to allow the free market to work in the solar panel industry otherwise the whole industry will continue to bleed. Thousands of people have already lost their jobs, wasting the billions that the government have spent in subsidizing the industry to create jobs.