First Solar profit rises on stronger demand

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TEMPE, Ariz. — First Solar Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of thin-film solar power modules, said first-quarter profit rose 4.7 percent on stronger demand and increased production. The company raised its full-year profit forecast.

Profit rose to $172.3 million, or $2 a share, from $164.6 million, or $1.99, a year earlier, the firm said. Sales for the quarter rose 36 percent to $568 million.

The company, a Toledo-born firm with its only North American manufacturing plant in Perrysburg Township, also said it plans to buy project developer NextLight Renewable Power LLC to boost sales of its panels to U.S. utilities. It agreed to pay $285 million in cash for the closely held developer, which has contracts to build 570 megawatts of solar-power arrays in the Southwest, the solar maker said yesterday.

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