SHANGHAI, June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ReneSola Ltd ("ReneSola" or the "Company") (www.renesola.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading fully-integrated solar project developer and provider of energy efficient technology products, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

First Quarter 2017 Highlights

• Revenue of $156.6 million exceeded the high end of the guidance range of $130 million to $150 million;
• Gross margin was 1.1%, compared to 2.1% in Q4 2016 and 17.1% in Q1 2016;
• Net loss was $23.2 million, compared to net loss of $25.5 million in Q4 2016 and net income of $5.7 million in Q1 2016;
• Total external module shipments were 266.8 MW while module shipments to the Company's downstream projects were approximately 44.3 MW;
• Total external wafer shipments were 259.2 MW, compared to 305.9 MW in Q4 2016 and 351.0 MW in Q1 2016;
• Recognized revenue of $2.2 million from sale of rooftop projects in China with aggregate capacity of 2.3 MW;
• Signed agreements to sell a 6.75 MW of utility project in North Carolina and 1.3 MW of utility projects in Holyoke, Massachusetts with revenue expected to be recognized in Q2 2017;
• Connected two ground-mounted projects in the UK with a combined capacity of approximately 10 MW; revenue is expected to be recognized in Q2;
• As of June 2, 2017, the Company had a solar power project pipeline of over 1.4GW, of which 613.1 MW are "shovel-ready";
• LED sales of $9.6 million increased by approximately 3% compared to Q4 2016 with gross margin of approximately 30.9%; and
• Total borrowings increased by $54.3 million to $678.6 million compared to Q4 2016.

Mr. Xianshou Li, ReneSola's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "First quarter results were generally in-line with our expectation, as we continued to gain traction from our downstream project efforts and LED distribution business, while affected by challenging market conditions of our solar power product business. We continue to execute our strategy to shift our business focus from manufacturing to downstream project development, and I am excited about the progress we are making. For the second quarter of 2017, we expect downstream project sales to increase when compared to the first quarter of 2017 due to continued growth in our project pipeline and our solid execution in project monetization."

Li continued, "We remained focused on managing our working capital, controlling costs and improving our balance sheet. We believe these measures have prepared us well to develop sustainably as we progress through the current industry down-cycle."

First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Revenue of $156.6 million was down 32.5% q/q and down 39.9% y/y, but exceeded the guidance of $130 million to $150 million. The decline in the year-over-year revenue was primarily due to lower module ASP's and reduced product shipments to external customers.

Gross profit of $1.7 million was down 65.4% q/q and 96.1% y/y. Gross margin declined to 1.1% from 2.1% in Q4 2016 and from 17.1% in Q1 2016. The sequential margin decline was primarily due to lower module ASP's as well as annual maintenance of our polysilicon plant.

Operating expenses were $19.5 million, representing 12.4% of revenue, down from $26.8 million in Q4 2016 and $32.3 million in Q1 2016. Sales and marketing expenses were $3.8 million, down from $7.3 million in Q4 2016 as we reversed certain warranty expenses to reflect the declining module ASP.

Operating loss was $17.8 million, compared to operating loss of $21.8 million in Q4 2016 and operating income of $12.2 million in Q1 2016.

Non-operating expenses of $9.1 million included net interest expense of $8.9 million and loss on derivative of $0.3 million, partially offset by foreign exchange gains of $0.2 million.

Net loss was $23.2 million, compared to net loss of $25.5 million in Q4 2016 and net income of $5.7 million in Q1 2016. Loss per ADS was $1.16[1].

Balance Sheet, Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company had cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) of $144.4 million as of March 31, 2017, compared to $133.2 million as of December 31, 2016. Total borrowings were $678.6 million, increasing by $54.3 million from $624.3 million as of December 31, 2016.

First Quarter Operating Highlights

The Company remains focused on developing, operating and selling high-quality solar power projects. Our business activities are centered on building a pipeline of distributed generation and utility-scale projects in attractive locations worldwide. In the first quarter, the Company continued to monetize its existing solar power project pipelines as part of its development cycle.

Project Sales

The Company recognized revenue of $2.2 million from the sale of rooftop projects of 2.3 MW in China's domestic distributed generation market in Q1 2017. The Company also signed agreements to sell a utility-scale project located in North Carolina with a capacity of approximately 6.75 MW and two utility-scale projects in Holyoke, Massachusetts with a combined capacity of approximately 1.3 MW in Q1 2017. The Company expects to recognize revenue from the sales of these projects in Q2 2017. The Company connected two ground-mounted projects in the UK with a combined capacity of approximately 10 MW with revenue expected to be recognized in Q2.

Project Pipeline

As of June 2, 2017, the Company had a pipeline of over 1.4 GW of projects in various stages, of which 613.1MW are projects that are "shovel-ready". The shovel-ready projects include (i) projects that are overseas and that ReneSola has the legal right to develop based on definitive agreements, and (ii) projects in China that are owned by ReneSola and have been filed with National Development and Reform Commission or third-party projects that the Company has signed definitive agreements to provide EPC services to. The Company identified a number of opportunities in China's domestic distributed generation market, and had 306.8 MW of such projects in shovel-ready stage in its pipeline as of June 2, 2017. The Company continues to focus on developed markets which are expected to have stable returns and healthy cash flow.

The following table sets forth our shovel-ready projects pipeline by location:

The Company currently has over 270 MW project pipelines under construction and plans to construct over an aggregate of 550 MW of projects in the year of 2017. During the construction phase, the projects will be financed by construction loans, as well as installment payments from buyers.

Modules and Wafers

During the first quarter, total external module shipments were 266.8 MW, down 19.3% from Q4 2016 and down 23.9% from Q1 2016. Total wafer shipments were 259.2 MW, down 15.3% from Q4 2016 and down 26.2% from Q1 2016.

LED

LED revenue of $9.6 million was up by approximately 3% from $9.3 million in Q4 2016. Gross margin was approximately 30.9%. The sequential slowdown in LED revenue growth was largely due to short-term adjustment to product offerings, coupled with inventory management in the quarter.

ReneSola remains optimistic about the growth prospects in LED business. The market for energy efficient products is large and growing rapidly. LED lighting is one of the most effective products for reducing electricity consumption. The Company believes it can leverage its brand name and global distribution footprint to build an attractive, high margin business. The Company expects LED business to grow into a meaningful financial contributor in the years ahead.

Outlook

For Q2 2017, the Company expects revenue in the range of $180 to $200 million, external wafer shipments in the range of 220MW to 240MW and external module shipments in the range of 230MW to 250MW.

For full year 2017, the Company expects revenue in the range of $900 million to $1,000 million.

Conference Call Information

ReneSola's management will host an earnings conference call on June 15, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (8:30 p.m. China Time).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the passcode to join the call. The passcode is 35984787.

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until June 23, 2017. To access the replay, please again reference the conference passcode 35984787.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of ReneSola's website at http://www.renesola.com.

About ReneSola

Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) is an international leading brand and technology provider of energy efficient products. Leveraging its global presence and expansive distribution and sales network, ReneSola is well positioned to provide its highest quality green energy products and on-time services for EPC, installers, and green energy projects around the world. For more information, please visit www.renesola.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that constitute ''forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Whenever you read a statement that is not simply a statement of historical fact (such as when the Company describes what it "believes," "plans," "expects" or "anticipates" will occur, what "will" or "could" happen, and other similar statements), you must remember that the Company's expectations may not be correct, even though it believes that they are reasonable. The Company does not guarantee that the forward-looking statements will happen as described or that they will happen at all. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation, beyond that required by law, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made, even though the Company's situation may change in the future.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

ReneSola LtdMs. Rebecca Shen+86 (21) 6280-9180 x106[email protected]

The Blueshirt Group AsiaMr. Gary Dvorchak, CFA+86 (138) 1079-1480[email protected]

In the United States:

The Blueshirt Group Mr. Ralph Fong+1 (415) 489-2195[email protected]

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SOURCE ReneSola Ltd.