LONGi, a global leader in solar technology, released its annual report 2023. The company achieved a revenue of 129.498 billion yuan*. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the whole year was 10.751 billion yuan, of which the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 10.834 billion yuan. The gross margin was 18.26%, and the return on weighted average net assets was 16.20%. LONGi invested a total of 7.7 million yuan in R&D, equivalent to 5.96% of its operating revenue. In the first quarter 2024, the company achieved an operating income of 17.674 billion yuan.
Based on the assessment of risks in the period of rapid changes in technology routes, the company officially announced last year that it would use BC (Back-Contact) technology route to achieve production line renewal. Given the industry's commonality of being affected by cyclical factors, the company adjusted the performance of the period down slightly.
Asset impairment affects short-term performance; gradual trend of business increase expected in second half of 2024
In 2023, China's photovoltaic industry continued to expand, with production of key manufacturing links such as polysilicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules all experiencing year-on-year growth of over 64%. The total industry output value exceeded 1.75 trillion yuan. However, the company's short-term performance was affected by the cyclical downturn in the industry's value chain and the replacement of old and new production capacity.
By the end of 2023, the company's self-owned silicon wafer production capacity reached 170 GW, the cell production capacity reached 80 GW, and the module production capacity reached 120 GW. In 2023, the company conducted impairment tests on assets showing signs of impairment and proposed to set aside an impairment provision of 7 billion yuan, which mainly includes inventory write-down provisions of 5.2 billion yuan and fixed asset impairment provisions of 1.6 billion yuan. At the same time, affected by the continuous decline in product prices at various stages of the photovoltaic industry chain, the company's provisions for inventory and other assets increased accordingly.
In the first quarter of 2024, the company achieved shipments of 26.74 GW of monocrystalline silicon wafers (12.43 GW sold externally, 14.31 GW sold within LONGi Group), a year-on-year increase of 12.26%; achieved 1.51 GW of monocrystalline cells sold externally; achieved 12.89 GW of monocrystalline module shipments (12.84 GW sold externally), a year-on-year increase of 16.55%, and achieved a revenue of 17.674 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 37.59%. LONGi's chairman, Baoshen Zhong, stated that the company's overall business for the year will show a trend of being lower in the first half and higher in the second half, with a gradual increase quarter by quarter. LONGi's product shipment volume will continue to grow.
During the reporting period, in the face of a market environment where new market opportunities and supply and demand pressures coexist, LONGi maintained a high intensity of R&D investment. The company also promoted product cost reduction and efficiency improvement through innovation, technology upgrading and iteration to further build on the company's differentiated competitive advantages.
From the listing in 2012 to the end of 2023, the company has accumulated R&D investment of more than 27 billion yuan and has obtained 2879 patents of various kinds. The R&D investment for the whole year of 2023 was 7.721 billion yuan, accounting for 5.96% of the operating revenue.
LONGi is accelerating the pace of commercializing scientific achievements with new products being the source of value growth
Nowadays, the products and services of different solar manufacturers are becoming more and more homogeneous, and the technological upgrades are largely based on the same technical direction and platform. There is no significant difference between the products of different companies, leading to fierce price competition. The industry has reached a consensus that advanced production capacity will never be excessive.
Release of TaiRay silicon wafer with full platform support
Following three years of dedicated research and development, LONGi released the TaiRay silicon wafer product (formerly known as Tera Wafer) on March 28, 2024. It has rare advantages such as full platform compatibility (TOPCon, heterojunction, back contact), more evenly distributed resistance, and effective removal of impurities. The TaiRay wafer represents a true breakthrough in silicon wafer innovation not seen in nearly a decade. It is expected to enter mass production in the second quarter of this year.
LONGi introduces the second generation of its back contact technology - HPBC 2.0
The company has successfully developed and launched the 2nd generation Hybrid Passivated Back Contact (HPBC) solar cell technology - HPBC 2.0. It can achieve more than 5% higher module power than TOPCon modules of the same specification, increasing the power generation of the power plant over its entire life cycle by 6.5% to 8%. The plan is to gradually introduce mass production in the second half of 2024. Chairman Baoshen Zhong stated that the company is accelerating the transformation of PERC production capacity, and that HPBC 2.0 will be in a very significant leading position by 2025.
Leading enterprises have a much higher risk resistance ability than second- and third-tier enterprises. In 2023, after LONGi officially announced the BC (Back-Contact) technology route, the product has been highly recognized worldwide. Only half a year after stable mass production, the monthly shipment scale exceeded 2GW. Adhering to the principle of leading and expanding production with advanced technology, LONGi has accelerated the pace of commercializing scientific and technological achievements.
Over the next three years, the company is expected to achieve an annual production capacity of 200 GW for monocrystalline silicon wafers, of which the "TaiRay" silicon wafer production capacity will account for more than 80%; the annual production capacity for BC (Back-Contact) cells will reach 100 GW; and the annual production capacity for monocrystalline modules will reach 150 GW.
In addition to the continuous upgrading of BC (Back-Contact) technology products and the development of next-generation technology, LONGi continues to track and invest in technical routes such as TOPCon, HJT, and tandem. As a results, it has achieved outstanding results in the development and introduction of mass-produced cell technology, breakthroughs in the efficiency of new types of high-efficiency cells, and the development and design of new products tailored to customer needs.
The company has set world records for both, the back-contacted crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell with an efficiency of 27.30% and the crystalline-silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell with an efficiency of 33.9%, further consolidating the company's R&D strength and cutting-edge technology reserves.
Below is the link to the investor presentation for further information:
https://static.longi.com/LON_Gi_Investor_Presentation_for_FY_2023_and_2024_Q1_Results_27be2be389.pdf
*EUR to CNY conversion rate from 31st December 2023: 7.8592
Press Contact
Nadine Bütow
Head of European Communications (DG)
Timo Helmke
PR Manager Europe (DG)