IPO Radar | Yingfa Ruineng, backed by Longi, suffered a single-year loss of 864 million yuan amid intense competition in the photovoltaic industry

Jiemian News reporter | Guo Jingjing

The official website of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) shows that N-type TOPCon battery cell manufacturers Sichuan Yingfa Rui Neng Technology Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “Yingfa Rui Neng”) have recently submitted the IPO application materials to the Main Board of the Hong Kong stock market for the second time.

Jiemian News learned that in June 2023, the company tried to rush to the capital market and first attempted an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Main Board, but it withdrew the listing application less than a month later. The reason for the withdrawal was “uncertainty in the future development strategy, changes in the market environment, and the timeline for the company’s A-share IPO.”

Two years later, the Hong Kong IPO prospectus publicly disclosed by Yingfa Rui Neng reveals more information. The company had encountered a “life-or-death” crisis around 2024, with a massive loss of RMB 864 million that year. In 2025, it turned profitable with RMB 857 million, but as of the end of that year, cash and cash equivalents were only RMB 655 million, while total liabilities were as high as RMB 8.689 billion.

Now, with mounting funding pressure, Yingfa Rui Neng has chosen to shift its focus to the Hong Kong stock market. After its first submission of the IPO application materials to HKEX’s Main Board in August 2025, half a year later the application “lapsed,” and in March 2026 it submitted the application again.

Betting on N-type battery cells

Currently, in the global photovoltaic battery cell market, more than 80% of products are N-type TOPCon battery cells. In recent years, Yingfa Rui Neng has completed its transformation from P-type to N-type battery cells, established three major production bases in Yibin, Mianyang, and Indonesia, and in 2025 moved its headquarters to Yibin, Sichuan.

Based on the R&D system of “mass-production generation (TOPCon), reserve generation (BC), R&D generation (perovskite tandem),” Yingfa Rui Neng states that it has laid out the N-type xBC battery cell technology route based on N-type TOPCon battery cells, and in August 2025 it became the world’s first specialized photovoltaic battery cell manufacturer to commercially produce N-type xBC battery cells.

According to the latest ranking of 2025 photovoltaic battery cell shipments released in February 2026 by InfoLink Consulting, Yingfa Rui Neng ranks second globally in battery cell shipments, only behind Tongwei Co., Ltd.

The prospectus shows that from 2023 to 2025 (during the reporting period), revenue generated by the company’s P-type PERC battery cells decreased as a share of total revenue from 91.9% to 13.8% and 3.6%, while the revenue share from N-type TOPCon battery cells increased from 7.1% to 81.2% and 88.1%. In 2025, the company’s N-type xBC battery cells started generating revenue, bringing a 3.2% contribution to revenue.

For years, Yingfa Rui Neng has “replenished cash” through fundraising. From June 2022 to just before this IPO application submission, the company completed four rounds of financing, raising over RMB 3.4 billion, bringing in external shareholders such as Yibin Gaotou under the Yibin State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, as well as national green funds and Jianxin Investment. By the end of July 2025, after the final pre-IPO financing round, the company’s post-investment valuation was about RMB 8.594 billion.

After walking out of its massive loss in 2024, overseas revenue carries hidden concerns

The prospectus shows that from 2023 to 2025, Yingfa Rui Neng achieved revenue of RMB 10.494 billion, RMB 4.359 billion, and RMB 8.713 billion; profit for the year was RMB 410 million, -RMB 864 million, and RMB 857 million, respectively.

Regarding the massive loss in 2024, Yingfa Rui Neng’s explanation is: “the rapid expansion of photovoltaic battery cell capacity led to an imbalance between supply and demand, intensifying market competition. In addition, as the cost of silicon wafers declined, and improvements in production processes reduced non-silicon costs, photovoltaic battery cell manufacturers chose to cut prices to compete for market share, which ultimately caused the selling price of photovoltaic battery cells to fall.”

Since 2022, driven by high profitability, the global photovoltaic industry has attracted a large amount of investment. The transition from P-type to N-type battery cells also further generated demand for added capacity, leading to large-scale expansion starting in the fourth quarter of 2023.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the global supply volume of photovoltaic battery cells increased from 799.9GW in 2023 to 1,105.8GW in 2025, but demand growth lagged behind, resulting in a supply surplus. The surplus in supply and demand expanded from 248.1GW to 491.5GW, and the surplus in supply and demand in the China market also grew from 253.9GW in 2023 to 470.2GW in 2025.

Faced with the industry’s “price war,” Yingfa Rui Neng cannot avoid it. The average selling price of its P-type PERC battery cells plunged from RMB 0.67 per watt in 2023 to RMB 0.25 per watt in 2024, a year-on-year drop of 62.69%. The average selling price of its N-type TOPCon battery cells decreased from RMB 0.44 per watt in 2023 by 36.4% to RMB 0.28 per watt in 2024.

During this period, silicon wafers—which account for nearly half of the total cost of photovoltaic battery cells—also saw price cuts. The unit purchase price of silicon wafers fell from RMB 0.44 per watt in 2023 to RMB 0.19 per watt in 2024. The price gap between the average selling price of P-type PERC battery cells and the unit purchase price of silicon wafers narrowed from RMB 0.23 per watt in 2023 to RMB 0.06 per watt in 2024.

Since 2025, Yingfa Rui Neng has adjusted its product structure in parallel: it shut down the P-type PERC battery cell production lines at the Tianchang base and focused on increasing effective capacity for N-type TOPCon battery cells.

As economies of scale lowered manufacturing and labor costs, in 2025 Yingfa Rui Neng’s N-type TOPCon battery cells were maintained at RMB 0.3 per watt. Its average selling cost fell from RMB 0.3 per watt in 2024 by 16.7% to RMB 0.25 per watt in 2025. The average gap between the average selling price and the unit purchase price of silicon wafers expanded from RMB 0.12 per watt in 2024 to RMB 0.15 per watt in 2025 (the unit purchase price of silicon wafers fell from RMB 0.16 per watt in 2024 to RMB 0.15 per watt in 2025).

Since 2026, competitive pressure on Yingfa Rui Neng has continued. Starting April 1, 2026, the 9% VAT export tax rebate for photovoltaic products will be officially abolished. This means that the era of subsidies in the photovoltaic industry is over, and the industry will shift to competing on real market competitiveness.

At present, demand in the photovoltaic battery cell industry remains weak. “Upstream and downstream companies are relatively pessimistic about the outlook. Downstream companies have extremely low procurement willingness, and the price-cutting intensity is very high.” The Silicon Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association disclosed on March 29 that silicon feedstock prices that week fell to around RMB 40,000 per ton. Silicon wafer and battery prices also fell in tandem, and battery cell mainstream prices fell 2.44% week-on-week.

Against this backdrop, since 2025 Yingfa Rui Neng has stepped up its efforts to go overseas. As disclosed by the company, its overseas revenue increased from RMB 342 million to RMB 468 million and RMB 3,526 million from 2023 to 2025, with its share rising from 3.3% to 10.7% and 40.5%. Among them, the revenue contribution from the U.S. market increased from 2.4% in 2024 to 14.3% in 2025. India is its second-largest overseas market; its revenue share increased from 2.5% in 2023 to 7.4% in 2024 and 11.9% in 2025.

However, any trade restrictions implemented in the countries where Yingfa Rui Neng conducts business—such as applications for anti-dumping duties, new tariffs, countervailing duty applications, quota fees, and any retaliatory tariffs arising therefrom—could significantly affect its overseas market sales and product pricing.

“Dependent” on Longi Green Energy?

Jiemian News noted that Yingfa Rui Neng has multiple significant related-party transactions, especially a close integration with Longi Green Energy (601012.SH). “We believe there is no excessive dependence on Longi and we have the ability to reduce dependence on Longi,” Yingfa Rui Neng said.

From 2023 to 2025, Yingfa Rui Neng supplied photovoltaic battery cell products to Longi Green Energy, with sales amounts of RMB 2.562 billion, RMB 893 million, and RMB 938 million, accounting for 24.4%, 20.5%, and 10.8% of total revenue, respectively. In the same period, the company purchased raw materials from Longi Green Energy, with procurement amounts of RMB 2.872 billion, RMB 1.239 billion, and RMB 1.174 billion, accounting for 24.8%, 13.1%, and 13.5% of total procurement, respectively.

Also according to the prospectus, from 2026 to 2028, the upper limit of transaction amounts for Yingfa Rui Neng to supply photovoltaic battery cell products to Longi Green Energy is RMB 2.5 billion per year. The upper limit of expenses for the company’s purchase of raw materials from Longi Green Energy is also RMB 1.5 billion per year.

“We mainly rely on patents authorized by Longi to produce N-type HPBC battery cells (a specific model of N-type xBC photovoltaic battery cell products),” Yingfa Rui Neng said. If it fails to timely renew its cooperation agreement with Longi Green Energy, it may have a major adverse impact on its N-type xBC battery cell R&D and product sales, as well as its overall operations.

Starting in 2027, Yingfa Rui Neng’s procurement arrangements with Longi Green Energy will shift to a market-oriented framework. Yingfa Rui Neng stated that Longi Green Energy has agreed not to refuse external sales without cause, and once approved, the proportion of external sales will not be subject to any restrictions.

It should be noted that during the reporting period, Yingfa Rui Neng’s inventory continued to rise, but inventory turnover days also increased. From 2023 to 2025, the company’s inventory increased from RMB 277 million to RMB 1.153 billion and RMB 1.894 billion; simultaneously, inventory turnover days were 10 days, 47 days, and 69 days, respectively. In January 2026, inventory as of December 31, 2025 that had not been used—RMB 924 million or 48.8%—was subsequently sold or used.

“An increase in raw material costs, business expansion, and the company’s expectation of rising market prices for photovoltaic battery cells in 2025, plus strategic inventory added in the third quarter, leading to an increase in finished goods, were partially offset by a reduction in work-in-progress.” Yingfa Rui Neng further pointed out that, compared with its capacity expansion, intense competition across downstream manufacturers led to slower inventory turnover, which in turn increased the amount of finished goods inventory; “We expanded overseas sales business, whose delivery cycle is longer than domestic sales, leading to increased inventory levels, including goods in transit and inventory before shipment.”

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Editor: Gao Jia