JinkoSolar: A Big Jump in Sales and Margin in 2018

Chinese Solar module manufacturing giant JinkoSolar has reported a sizeable jump in its shipments and margins in 2018. The news was revealed in the company’s 2018 financial results, published March 22.

For 2018 on a consolidated basis across its business, JinkoSolar posted a module shipment of 11.4GW in 2018 — a 16 percent increase from the previous year, marking the third consecutive year with a top ranking in global delivery with a  market share of 12.8%. Total turnover for 2018 was close to $3.93 billion, with the final quarter of the year adding $1.29 billion out of the total, a 45% jump over the corresponding quarter last year.

Despite plummeting domestic demand hit by 531 policy, named after the policy announced on May 31 by the Chinese government without any warning,  JinkoSolar has still managed to grow the business. It ensured higher profitability by producing higher premium models in demand, especially in developed markets in Europe, besides the middle east and other regions. 

JinkoSolar had begun mass production of its flagship Cheetah series last year, a key contributor to the increased profitability. Gross margin was 14.0% for the full year 2018, compared with 11.3% for the full year 2017. Income from operations and net income of 2018 achieved an increase of 98.2 % and 186.9% over 2017.

Counting on increasing demand and demand especially for Monocrystalline module options the Company has raised its production capacity of high-end mono products with the mainstream power range of up to 380watts. The company claims a waiting time for its top end mono products in 2018.  On the other hand, driven by new industry norm of grid parity, JinkoSolar has been a pioneer taking an active part in the development of the dual side module with transparent back sheet such as Swan, which will bring more changes in its product portfolio.

For 2019, JinkoSolar has claimed high order visibility, making it optimistic of maintaining its growth momentum during the year.