On April 12, the global photovoltaic film leader Foster (603806) with a total market value of nearly 50 billion yuan announced that the company intends to invest in the establishment of Fuxin International Trade Co., Ltd. in Singapore, with a total investment of 5 million US dollars, and the company holds 100% equity; at the same time, the company's holding subsidiary Hangzhou Foster Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. intends to invest in the establishment of Thailand Foster Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. in Thailand, with a total investment of 5 million US dollars, and the electric materials company holds 100% equity.
Regarding the investment to set up two new overseas companies, Foster said that the company and its holding subsidiaries plan to set up subsidiaries in Singapore and Thailand, which aims to promote the independence of the photovoltaic materials business and the electronic materials business, expand the company's international market share, and enhance the company's competitiveness and profitability.
The global photovoltaic film leader has a market share of 50%
According to the data, Foster was established in 2003 and is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of new materials. Its business territory covers Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam, etc., and it has a number of subsidiaries, and its business scope is widely involved in photovoltaics, electronic circuits, lithium batteries and other new material fields. In September 2014, the company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Since its establishment, the company has entered the photovoltaic film market with its independent research and development strength, and has gradually developed into the world's largest supplier of photovoltaic film, with a product market share of more than 50% for many years, and firmly occupies the position of the leader in the global photovoltaic film industry. At the same time, the company is also actively expanding its product line, and its photovoltaic backsheet products have jumped to the top three in the industry in terms of shipments in 2022.
In terms of overseas markets, in recent years, Foster has kept up with the trend and actively expanded its overseas business. In 2018, the company set up its first photovoltaic film production base in Thailand, and later started construction of a production base in Vietnam. In October 2023, the company announced that it will invest in production expansion at its headquarters in Lin'an, Thailand and Vietnam at the same time, further deepening its global layout and enhancing its global competitiveness.
Profit doubled, and the backplane jumped to the second place in the world
On the evening of April 11, Foster released the 2023 performance "report card", with an annual operating income of 22.589 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.66%, and a net profit and non-net profit of 1.850 billion yuan and 1.713 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 17.20% and 18.64% year-on-year, respectively.
In terms of photovoltaic business, during the reporting period, the company's photovoltaic film sales reached 2.249 billion square meters, a significant increase of about 7% year-on-year, and the revenue reached 20.481 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 22%, and its photovoltaic film market share remained at about 50%. At the same time, the company's photovoltaic backsheet shipments ranked second in the world, reaching 151.21 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%, and achieving revenue of 1.327 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 1.1% year-on-year.
(Screenshot from the company's announcement)
In this regard, Foster said that in 2023, the company will maintain high sales growth and stable profitability by virtue of its competitive advantages, and the photovoltaic backsheet business has also made significant progress, ranking second in the world, and expanding overseas. However, the introduction of new energy policies in the United States and Europe has complicated the business situation of photovoltaic materials. Foster will provide cost-effective packaging solutions for new technologies through a full range of products and cost control, and accelerate overseas production capacity expansion to stabilize global market share.
At the same time, the company's announcement also pointed out that in 2024, the photovoltaic film business will face the challenge of differentiated operation, market volatility and raw material price volatility will intensify, and the transformation of cell and module technology will also promote the diversification of demand for photovoltaic packaging materials.
The 250 million square meter photovoltaic film project was postponed
On the same day as the announcement of the annual report, Foster also announced the postponement of major projects, saying that its annual output of 5 million square meters of flexible copper clad laminate project with a total investment of 359 million yuan, and the annual output of 250 million square meters of high-efficiency battery encapsulation film project with a total investment of 549 million yuan will be postponed to the end of 2025.
In this regard, the company said that the postponement of some investment projects is a strategic adjustment based on the urgency difference in the expansion of photovoltaic film production capacity at home and abroad, as well as the actual situation of the progress of flexible copper clad laminate business and the pace of capacity construction. Although some projects have been postponed, they will continue to be invested in the future and will not have a significant impact on the company's daily operations.
The company also stressed that this decision is in line with the company's overall development strategic plan, which will help strengthen the company's working capital strength, improve the efficiency of the use of raised funds, and is expected to bring higher earnings in the future.
A number of photovoltaic companies have built factories overseas
In recent years, the global photovoltaic industry has been booming, and the new installed capacity has grown rapidly, and Chinese photovoltaic companies have also set up factories overseas.
On March 20 this year, Otway, a leading photovoltaic equipment company, plans to set up a joint venture with TTVHB in Malaysia through its Singapore subsidiary, mainly producing and selling automation equipment, radiating Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States markets. The Singapore subsidiary will own 85% of the shares, while TTVHB will own 15%.
On March 12, Jinchen Co., Ltd. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary has been established in Ohio, USA, with a capital contribution of 2 million US dollars and a 100% shareholding ratio of the company, mainly providing after-sales installation, commissioning and maintenance services for photovoltaic module equipment.
In addition, in October last year, Arctech, a leading global photovoltaic bracket company, invested in the construction of a 3GW production base through its Brazilian subsidiary to expand the Latin American market, with a total investment of about 430 million yuan.
In addition, in September last year, Trina Solar USA announced that it would invest in the construction of a photovoltaic module production plant with an annual capacity of about 5GW in Texas, which is expected to start production in 2024. Prior to this, a number of PV module giants, including Jinko, JA Solar, LONGi, Canadian Solar, etc., have also announced plans to build factories in the United States.
(Screenshot from the company's announcement, data source CPIA)
According to the latest data from CPIA, about 390GW of new PV capacity will be installed globally in 2023. It is expected that in 2024, the global PV installed capacity will reach 430GW optimistically, and 390GW will be conservatively estimated. By 2030, the annual installed capacity of global PV will reach 512~587GW.
It can be seen that the global photovoltaic market is still very strong, and there is huge room for future development.
Disclaimer: The above content is reproduced from Veken Photovoltaic, and the content does not represent the position of this number.