In the first half of 2024, when the photovoltaic industry is facing challenges, JinkoSolar (688223. SH) still demonstrated strong performance, achieving both revenue and profit growth.
Behind this achievement is the strong support of the company's N-type TOPCon technology efficient products and global balanced layout. In the first half of this year, JinkoSolar's module shipments and N-type product shipments continued to maintain the industry's first place. Although the photovoltaic industry is currently facing the "pain" of transformation, its development opportunities are still clear in the wave of global energy structure transformation.
Steady pace, demonstrating business resilience against the trend
In the first half of 2024, when the photovoltaic industry was under overall pressure, JinkoSolar demonstrated strong market competitiveness and operational resilience, achieving a revenue of 47.251 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 1.2 billion yuan.
While achieving profitability, JinkoSolar maintained its position as the industry leader in component shipments in the first half of the year, thanks to its efficient N-type TOPCon technology products and globally balanced layout. As of the second quarter of 2024, JinkoSolar's cumulative shipment of components is approximately 260GW.
Moreover, in the first half of the year, JinkoSolar's shipment volume of N-type components accounted for over 80%, and the shipment volume of N-type products continued to maintain the industry's first place, becoming a solid guarantee for the company's market share.
In addition to maintaining a numerical advantage, JinkoSolar is also popular in the global market with its high cost-effectiveness and enjoys a certain premium. In the first half of 2024, JinkoSolar sold approximately 43.80 GW of photovoltaic module products worldwide, including approximately 35.90 GW of N-type modules, which is at the forefront of global sales scale. At the same time, JinkoSolar actively responds to supply chain price fluctuations and policy changes in the international market, achieving shipment leadership in overseas high premium markets.
From the perspective of asset structure, as of the end of the first half of the year, JinkoSolar's total assets were 124.528 billion yuan, and the net assets attributable to shareholders of the listed company were 33.415 billion yuan. The asset liability ratio decreased by 0.83 percentage points compared to the end of the previous period, making it one of the few companies whose asset liability ratio is still declining under the photovoltaic cycle. Its financial development pace is relatively stable.
In addition, the company's short-term borrowings and non current liabilities due within one year decreased by 34.27% compared to the end of the previous year. In the first half of this year, JinkoSolar was also the only leading integrated component enterprise in the industry to maintain a PV Tech financing rating of "AAA". Multiple indicators show that JinkoSolar has achieved significant improvements in debt control and financial strategy, laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term sustainable development.
In terms of technology, JinkoSolar remains as strong as ever.
In the first half of the year, its N-type battery yield rate reached over 98%, and its technological leadership not only helped it gain an advantage in the market, but also ensured that its products were leading in high premium market shipments worldwide; In terms of perovskite stacked batteries, JinkoSolar also made significant breakthroughs in the first half of the year, with a conversion efficiency of up to 33.24%, laying a solid foundation for subsequent technological innovations.
At present, JinkoSolar has achieved stable mass production of over 75GW of N-type batteries, and the average testing efficiency of large-scale production of N-type TOPCon batteries has exceeded 26.10%. The efficiency of battery storage, non silicon costs, and the pace of new technology introduction remain industry-leading; The average production power of the 182mm72 N-type TOPCon component exceeds 595W.
Middle East layout accelerates, global market steadily expands
JinkoSolar's products have now served over 4000 customers in nearly 200 countries and regions worldwide, reflecting the depth and breadth of its globalization strategy. The company has achieved significant results in emerging markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, with a market share of up to 50%, especially in the Middle East market. In addition, we have successfully expanded into the Pakistani market, with an annual signing volume of over 4GW, and our market share in Thailand has also further increased.
In terms of global manufacturing and investment, JinkoSolar's overseas market shipments of component products account for about 65%, and overseas revenue accounts for about 71%, both of which have increased year-on-year. In July of this year, JinkoSolar announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary JinkoSolar Middle East will establish a joint venture with Renewable Energy Localization Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Vision Industries Company to build and operate a 10GW high-efficiency photovoltaic cell and module project in Saudi Arabia. This project is JinkoSolar's largest overseas investment to date and will also become the largest manufacturing base for China's photovoltaic cell and module industry overseas, helping the company expand its market share and enhance its core competitiveness in overseas markets.
Faced with the "internal competition" situation in the industry, JinkoSolar regards digitization and intelligence as the key to breaking through. Through the linkage of intelligent systems, automated transportation, and intelligent three-dimensional warehouses, the company significantly improved production and operation efficiency as well as cost control capabilities in the first half of the year. The Shanxi large base project is progressing according to plan, and the largest intelligent three-dimensional warehouse in the photovoltaic industry at the Haining base has been put into operation. The Saudi factory that the company is still planning will become one of the most advanced and digitized overseas factories in the world, supporting the company's long-term development in the global market.
Jingke Energy has also made breakthrough progress in emerging businesses. With the gradual reduction of LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) of photovoltaic storage systems, the company's 5MWh large storage system provides customers with high-quality energy storage solutions. The company's energy storage business has developed rapidly in both domestic and international markets, and has been rated as a Tier 1 supplier in the BNEF energy storage supplier rating. It is also one of the few manufacturers to receive Tier 1 evaluations in both the component and energy storage fields.
Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2024, JinkoSolar's expected shipment of components is 23-25GW. Looking at the whole year, with the stabilization of industrial chain prices in the second half of the year and the seasonal recovery of demand in the second half of the year, JinkoSolar is confident that it can maintain sustainable business performance by balancing shipments and profits in different regions while meeting the annual shipping guidelines.
Although the current photovoltaic industry is facing the "pain" of transformation, the development opportunities of the photovoltaic industry are still clear in the wave of global energy structure transformation. With the release of the International Energy Agency's "Mid Year Update on Electricity" report in July 2024, it is predicted that global electricity demand will achieve a growth rate of approximately 4% in 2024, the highest level in a regular year since 2007, and this strong growth momentum is expected to continue until 2025.
As a leading enterprise in the photovoltaic industry, JinkoSolar is standing at the forefront of historic opportunities. The company has established a strong market position globally through its profound accumulation in technological innovation, global layout, and intelligent manufacturing. With the continuous growth of global demand for clean energy, the prospects of JinkoSolar remain bright. According to the National Energy Administration, in the first half of 2024, China's newly installed photovoltaic capacity reached 102.48 GW, a year-on-year increase of 31%. This data not only reflects the strong growth of the domestic market, but also provides broad development space for photovoltaic enterprises that urgently need to break through.