May. 24, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Suntech Power Holdings<STP>, the largest Chinese solar-cell maker by market value, suffered US$133 million in net loss attributable to shareholders in the first quarter of this year, whereas it earned US$31.9 million in net profit attributable to shareholders in the same period of 2011.

Diluted loss per American Depositary Share was US$0.74 in the first quarter of 2012, compared with diluted earnings per ADS of US$0.17 in the corresponding period of last year.

Total revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were US$409.5 million, a YoY decrease of 53.3% from US$877 million. Capital expenditure for the period totaled US$22.6 million, compared with US$128.5 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Suntech Power had US$663.8 million in cash as of Mar. 31, 2012, whereas it had US$709 million at the end of last year.

For the second quarter of 2012, the company's gross margin is expected to be in the range of 3% to 6%, and the firm's shipments for this year are estimated to reach between 2.1 gigawatts and 2.5 GW.