Ja Solar Holding (JASO)

First Quarter 2009 Results

Revenue in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 231.7 million ($33.9 million), a decrease of 79.4 percent from RMB 1.1 billion ($164.2 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and a decrease of 76.3 percent from RMB 979.0 million ($143.3 million) reported in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Total gross loss in the first quarter was RMB 142.7 million (a loss of $20.9 million), compared with gross profit of RMB 235.9 million ($34.5 million) in the first quarter of 2008, and gross profit of RMB 9.7 million ($1.4 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Inventory provision at the end of the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 138.4 million ($20.3 million), an increase of RMB 60.4 million ($8.8 million) compared with the balance at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2009 were RMB 50.4 million ($7.4 million), compared with RMB 72.3 million ($10.6 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and RMB 130.8 million ($19.1 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Included in operating expenses was an RMB 11.9 million ($1.7 million) non-cash stock based compensation charge related to the hiring and retention of key employees in the first quarter of 2009. Stock based compensation charged to the income statement amounted to RMB 53.9 million ($7.9 million) and RMB 32.3 million ($4.7 million) for the first quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2008, respectively. Operating loss in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 193.1 million (a loss of $28.3 million), compared with operating income of RMB 163.6 million ($23.9 million) in the first quarter of 2008 and operating loss of RMB 121.1 million (a loss of $17.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Net loss per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2009 was RMB 1.20 (a loss of $0.18), compared with net income per diluted ADS of RMB 0.99 ($0.15) in the same period of 2008 and net loss per diluted ADS of RMB 0.68 (a loss of $0.10) in the fourth quarter of 2008.

At March 31, 2009, JA Solar had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 1.7 billion ($249.2 million), compared with RMB 1.9 billion ($282.4 million) at Dec. 31, 2008. Total working capital at March 31, 2009 was RMB 2.6 billion ($385.2 million). The company repurchased RMB 42.4 million ($6.2 million) of convertible bonds in the first quarter of 2009, and the convertible bonds outstanding as of March 31, 2009 were RMB 2.2 billion ($315.3 million). Total credit facility available at March 31, 2009 was RMB 1.5 billion ($213.7 million), of which RMB 520.0 million ($76.1 million) has been drawn down.

"The first quarter of 2009 was the most challenging quarter for JA Solar since the company was founded in 2005," said Samuel Yang, CEO of JA Solar. "The global industry conditions were particularly difficult, with the market affected by worse than normal seasonality, a weak macro-economic environment and the continuing impact of the credit crisis resulting in some issues with customer project financing. However, we are actively managing our business to prepare for what we hope to be the market's recovery in the latter part of this year and we are seeing encouraging signs of market improvement in key end markets. We have sufficient liquidity to sustain the current downturn and we are positioning ourselves for growth in the second half of 2009 and beyond," he said.

2009 Outlook

The first quarter results and the continuing market uncertainty are translating into less visibility for the coming quarters. At this time, JA Solar believes it is unlikely to achieve the results as given in the 2009 guidance provided on March 10, 2009, which was for revenue of $830 million to $952 million and production output of 500 MW to 550 MW. JA Solar has no plans to give further guidance on its 2009 revenue or production unless and until the company has better visibility of the global solar market conditions in the coming quarters.

Currency Convenience Translation

The conversion of Renminbi into U.S. dollars in this release, made solely for the convenience of the reader, is based on the noon buying rate in the city of New York for cable transfers of Renminbi as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as of March 31, 2009, which was RMB 6.8329 to $1.00. No representation is intended to imply that the Renminbi amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into U.S. dollars at that rate on March 31, 2009, or at any other date. The percentages stated in this press release are calculated based on Renminbi.