By Alex Morales and Ben Sills May 6 (Bloomberg) -- First Solar Inc., the world’s largest maker of thin-film solar power modules, may outperform Chinese competitor Suntech Power Holdings Co. because it bought more protection against the falling euro, Barclays Capital said. An average exchange rate this year of $1.25 per euro would probably depress earnings per share for Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar by 9 percent relative to a $1.35 rate, Barclays Capital analyst Vishal Shah said today in a note to investors. For Suntech, the world’s largest maker of polysilicon solar- power modules, the decline would be 79 percent, he wrote. First Solar “has a relatively good hedging policy” against swings in currencies such as the euro, Shah wrote. The euro this year has dropped more than 11 percent against the dollar and today fell to $1.2713, the lowest since March 2009. That puts companies that make most of their revenue in euros at a disadvantage, Barclays Capital said. “Most Chinese solar module companies could be vulnerable to further euro-related earnings declines,” Shah wrote. “The recent sharp decline in the euro has triggered a sharp sell-off in the solar sector.” SunPower Corp., based in Wuxi, China, may see earnings per share 21 percent lower with a $1.25 exchange rate than with one of $1.35, Barclays Capital said. For JA Solar Holdings Co., the decline would be 14 percent; Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. would see a fall of 42 percent; and earnings per share at Trina Solar Inc. may decline by 32 percent, the analyst said. Canadian Solar Inc., which moved its headquarters to Ontario from China’s Jiangsu province in September, may see a drop of 84 percent, Barclays Capital said. Canadian Solar Chief Financial Officer Arthur Chien said in a statement on April 20 that the euro had depreciated “dramatically” and the company “did not have adequate currency hedging.”
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