(Reuters) - SunPower Corp (O:SPWR), the No. 2 U.S. solar panel maker, reported a larger quarterly loss as the company took a bigger restructuring charge.
Shares of SunPower, majority owned by French energy giant Total SA (PA:TOTF), were down 4.4 percent at $6.90 in after-market trading.
Stiff competition, especially from Chinese companies, has hammered panel prices lower. Customers are also holding off purchases, anticipating a further decline in prices.
Stung by the slump, most solar companies have launched cost-cutting measures. SunPower said in December it would lay off 25 percent of its workforce and close one plant.
Chief Executive Tom Werner said on Wednesday that the restructuring initiatives were on track, but added that the "overall industry conditions remain challenging."
The company's net loss attributable to shareholders widened to $275.1 million, or $1.99 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 1, from $40.5 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier.
SunPower said it recorded a $175.8 million charge related to restructuring expenses in the latest quarter, compared with $31.2 million a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the company lost 64 cents per share.
The company's revenue jumped 40.5 percent to $1.02 billion.
Analysts on average had estimated a loss of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.06 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.