US-based company First Solar have released its financial results for 2018. Credit: Oregon Department of Transport

US photovoltaic solutions provider First Solar released its fourth quarter (Q4) and full-year financial results for 2018 on Thursday.

First Solar’s net sales for the year stood at just over $2.2bn, with $691m of that coming from the final quarter, a $15m increase on Q3.

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The company’s earnings per share (EPS) fell from $0.54 in Q3 to $0.49 in Q4, with total EPS for the year standing at $1.36.

Cash and marketable securities also fell from $2.7bn to £2.5bn in the same period. First Solar said this was mainly due to capital investments in the Series 6 manufacturing capacity. The company’s net cash stood at $2.1bn at the end of 2018.

First Solar had orders of 5.6GW over the course of 2018, with a further 1.3GW already booked in for 2019 and could possibly reach 7.3GW of orders in 2019.

First Solar CEO Mark Widmer said: “We had a number of notable accomplishments in 2018, including strong net bookings of 5.6GW and the start of Series 6 production at three factories. Our Series 6 progress in 2019 continues to be encouraging with the start of production at a fourth factory and ongoing improvements in throughput and efficiency at our existing facilities.

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“We continue to see good demand for Series 6, and our pipeline of contracted shipments positions us well for the year.”

First Solar estimates it will have net sales of around $3.2 to $3.4bn in 2019, with an EPS of $2.25 to $2.75.