http://pv.energytrend.com/research/20130524-5261.html
Solar manufacturers released the finalized 4Q12 financial report at the end of April. In this turbulent year, many manufacturers faced a negative gross margin due to the continuous average price decline. Luckily, prices are finally beginning to warm back up. As shown below, global market intelligence organization TrendForce’s research division EnergyTrend examined the Top 10 solar manufacturers with the highest revenue in 4Q12.
1. Financial Structure
The debt-to-asset ratio of First Solar and REC was under 0.5, suggesting a solid financial structure; the debt-to-asset ratio of Solarworld exceeded 0.8 and was also the greatest out of the 10 manufactures surveyed, which means that they may face considerable risk. The debt-to-asset ratio of other Chinese manufacturers all surpassed 0.8, and the proportion of current liabilities in their total liability was quite high; such insufficient cash may result in short-term cash flow problems.
2. Short-term solvency
Short term solvency depends on asset liquidity. The current assets of Yingli, ReneSola, Canadian Solar, and Jinko were unable to offset their current liabilities, and as shown in table below , excluding their illiquid stock, it is even more difficult for Chinese manufacturers to repay their debt in the short-term. Read more.