Hoku may get $140M a year from Idaho plant
Hoku Scientific Inc. said yesterday it eventually expects to generate revenue of $120 million to $140 million a year from the polysilicon plant it is building in Pocatello, Idaho.
The Kapolei-based company made the forecast, based on its existing supply agreements, while announcing that it lost $1 million in its fiscal 2008 second quarter on revenues of $239,000.
The plant is slated to begin delivering polysilicon, used to make solar panels, in 2009.
Hoku Scientific Inc., providing financial projections for the first time on its planned Idaho polysilicon plant, said it expects to generate revenue of $120 million to $140 million a year based on its existing supply agreements.
Second-quarter loss: $1 million
Year-earlier net: $303,000
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The Kapolei-based company disclosed its forecast yesterday in conjunction with the release of its fiscal 2008 second-quarter earnings results.
Hoku had a net loss of $1 million, or 6 cents a share -- in line with preliminary results the company released last week when it said it would have a loss of $1 million to $1.2 million. Hoku's $239,000 in revenue matched the number that Hoku provided last week.
A year earlier, Hoku had net income of $303,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $1.9 million.
Revenue was down from a year ago primarily due to the completion in 2006 of fuel-cell contracts with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
Hoku, which also is in the beginning stages of a solar-panel installation business, said revenue from that operation will be the company's primary source of revenue through this year until the polysilicon plant is operational.
The company said it expects revenue in the current quarter that ends Dec. 31 to be in the range of $1 million to $1.4 million. Hoku also said it expects to incur losses for the foreseeable future.
Last week, Hoku said it was revising the initial annual capacity of the still-to-be-built Pocatello, Idaho, facility to between 2,000 and 2,500 metric tons of polysilicon, which is the material used to make solar panels. Previously, Hoku said the capacity would be up to 3,000 metric tons of polysilicon.
However, Hoku left open the door yesterday for further expansion, saying that based on its 67 acres of leased property and current design and engineering plan, the company could expand polysilicon production to 8,000 metric tons a year.
"Furthermore, we have a right-of-first-refusal from the City of Pocatello to lease approximately 450 acres of neighboring land, where we could potentially construct facilities for the production of additional polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells or other related solar businesses," said Dustin Shindo, chairman, president and chief executive of Hoku.