Many Taiwanese solar cell vendors suffered from the extremely sluggish market demand in the third quarter of 2016 (3Q16) following China’s strongest installation rush in the history by June 30. Motech, a Taiwanese tier 1 solar cell manufacturer, announced a drastic financial decrease for 3Q, which even eroded most of the company’s income from the first half of this year.

Motech reported a consolidated revenue of NT$5.1 billion, down 42.2% QoQ. The company’s gross margin dropped to negative 18% (-18%), and the operational loss was NT$1.25 billion. The net loss for 3Q was around NT$1 billion after receiving an insurance claim of approximately NT$200 million. The EPS was NT$-2.05.

Motech’s Q3 net loss nearly offset 90% of its income of NT$1.12 billion from 1H16.

Seasonal flat

EnergyTrend has projected 3Q to be the off-season in 2016 for the solar industry. During the quarter, PV spot prices across the supply chain had kept falling and many manufacturers would rather reduce their utilization rates due to negative margin.

September was the most sluggish quarter, while Motech’s net loss after tax for this month was NT$417 million, completely eroded its net income after tax of NT$308 million for 2Q.

Fortunately, the market has started to warm up since October so EnergyTrend expects to see better performance for manufacturers in October than in September.