China's LDK Solar Co Ltd posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss hurt by weak demand and a rapid fall in the price of solar panels and warned it expects challenging conditions in the industry to continue.
For the fourth quarter, LDK Solar estimates revenue in the range of $440 million to $520 million and gross margin between 2 percent and 7 percent.
A glut of production and swelling inventories of the panels that turn sunlight into electricity have driven down prices by about 40 percent so far this year, squeezing profits across the industry and pushing some manufacturers into bankruptcy.
LDK Solar's third-quarter net loss was $114.5 million, or 87 cents per American depository share (ADS), compared with net income of $93.4 million, or 72 cents per ADS, a year ago.
Net sales dropped 30 percent to $471.9 million.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 46 cents in the quarter, on revenue of $514.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
