(Yicai Global) April 14 -- Shares of Shuangliang Eco-Energy Systems jumped after the Chinese manufacturer of solar wafers said it expected net profit to have surged by as much as 330 percent in the first quarter following a big increase in 2022.

Shuangliang [SHA: 600481] closed 4.6 percent up at CNY15.84 (USD2.31) a share today, after earlier climbing by as much as 6.7 percent, bringing the stock’s gain to more than 22 percent to date this year.

Net profit likely surged 289 percent to 330 percent to between CNY470 million and CNY520 million (USD68.7 million and USD76 million) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, mainly because newly built silicon wafer production capacity came on stream, Shuangliang said late yesterday.

Last year’s net profit was CNY957 million, up 208 percent from 2021, the Jiangyin-based company said in its annual financial report published yesterday. Revenue soared 278 percent to CNY14.5 billion (USD2.1 billion).

Shuangliang attributed 2022’s strong performance to an expansion in polysilicon production capacity across China, which brought a large number of orders for its silicon processing equipment, as well as the start of new capacity for its large-sized monocrystalline silicon wafer business, which boosted sales.

In a separate statement yesterday, Shuangliang also said its production base in Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had received a new order for solar panels worth CNY355 million, from a unit of state-owned China Energy Investment, which is building a 200 megawatts solar power station in the region. The deal is a good sign the firm’s efforts to expand into the downstream industry chain is progressing well.

Shuangliang’s future looks bright. Since early March, its Baotou manufacturing base alone has received six long term solar wafer supply deals which potentially could be worth as much as CNY13.3 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione