Hanwha Q Cells reported operating income of $56.7m in the first quarter of 2016, compared with a loss of $17.2m in the same period last year.
Revenues rose 54.4% to $514.9m from $333.5m in the first quarter of 2015, while gross profit was $109m compared with $48.4m last year.
The improvements were largely driven by a continuing reduction in module manufacturing cost together with increased production, Hanwha said.
The company said module sales exceeded expectations with 912MW shipped in the first three months of the year.
Sales to the US represented more than 50% of revenue in the first quarter of the year, up from 20% last year.
The US took up the slack from Europe, which accounted for 2.1% of revenues in the first three months of 2016, compared with almost 33% last year.
Revenues from Japan accounted for 15.2%, down from 24.4%, with the rest of the world rising to 32.1% from 22.9% last year.
In the second quarter of 2016, Hanwha expects module shipments of between 1.10GW and 1.15GW, with projections for the year to be in the range of 4.8GW to 5GW.
Hanwha Q Cells chairman and chief executive officer Seong-woo Nam said: “With our cell and module capacity expansion is nearing completion in South Korea and Malaysia, we are delivering high quality products to increase our market share in both OECD countries and emerging markets.
“One of the top strategic initiatives of 2016 is to improve our capital structure and to make strategic investments in areas that will fuel the company’s full growth potential.”
Image: Hanwha
