Beijing: Chinese solar panel maker LDK Solar Co Ltd, which partially defaulted on a bond payment this week, reported on Thursday its seventh straight quarterly loss as it struggles to meet looming debt payments of more than $3 billion (Dh11.02 billion).
The company said it would focus on emerging solar markets in China, Africa, India and the United States, but warned that demand for solar panels would remain weak in the near term.
Like many of its domestic rivals, LDK ran up huge debts to expand manufacturing capacity before being hit by the Eurozone crisis that triggered a collapse in demand for solar panels.
It must repay two-thirds of its outstanding debt in about a year, according to analysts’ estimates. The company’s free cash flow — cash generated from operations after subtracting capital expenditure — has been negative since it was established in 2005, Thomson Reuters data showed.
LDK’s net loss hit $517 million or $3.68 per American Depositary Share (ADS) in the fourth quarter compared with $588.7 million or $4.63 per ADS a year earlier, the company said on Thursday.
