LDK Solar (LDK) is trading down about 10% in pre-market trading this morning after reporting a large 4Q loss and issuing disappointing guidance for next quarter.  The company reported a loss of $1.25/share which was much steeper than what analysts had expected (.84 loss) on revenues that actually beat estimates and represented a 121% increase over the year ago quarter.  The company ended the year with $255 million in cash and cash equivalents and $83 million in short pledged bank deposits.

It expects a very weak 1st quarter here in 09 with revenue estimates at just 240 – 280 million (vs the analyst expectations of $412 million) with full year 09 estimates coming in a bit weaker than estimates ($1.4 – 1.8 billion vs $1.93).

“We enter 2009 with conservative optimism. In light of the continued economic slowdown and global credit crisis, we recently amended our expansion plans to lower capital expenditure needs in the near term and to better reflect muted market expectations for 2009. As the credit markets continue to contract, we believe that conservative cash management is imperative and will focus on closely monitoring capital spending to protect our healthy cash position and unused credit facilities, which were $850 million at the end of 2008. While the business environment has been challenging, we believe we are uniquely positioned within the solar industry and going forward will benefit from our lean cost structure and economies of scale. As we brace for continued challenges in the current marketplace, we remain confident in the core strengths of our business model and long-term growth strategies,” concluded Mr. Peng