The Danish wind power leader increased its sales of 13 percent year over year, moving out of the red in the process, partly because of greater profit margins from projects. It may be a sign of a healthier global wind market.
EBIT increased by 92 million to 104 million euros in the second quarter, with most of the profits reportedly coming from maintenance services in the company‘s wind farms, not the sale of turbines. Nonetheless, an increase in the order volume has helped reduce the cost per installed megawatt thanks to economies of scale.
The comparison of the first two quarters of 2013 and 2014 show a clear trend. Last year, Vestas posted a loss of 213 million euros, compared to a profit of 96 million this year.
– The signing of a contract between Denmark’s Dong Energy and Vestas for the supply of turbines at British wind farm Burbo Bank on August 19.
The signing of a contract between Denmark’s Dong Energy and Vestas for the supply of turbines at British wind farm Burbo Bank on August 19.
One reason for the on profitability last year was the drop in installations from 6.5 GW in 2012 to 4.8 GW for the year as a whole. But orders are up 18 percent at nearly 2 GW, and the firm has already shipped 2.1 GW in the first half of this year, 0.4 GW more than in the first half of 2013.
The company says that its main buyers are now in Germany, the UK, the US, Chile, France, and South Africa. The US market alone was worth 490 MW for the Danes this year; last year, the US market dried up completely. And at the end of June, Vestas announced the signing of a contract worth 450 MW on behalf of French power giant EDF for wind farms in the United States.
The company has also already installed 409 MW in Germany this year, compared to only 616 MW built in Germany for 2013 as a whole. The German market now makes up 17.5 percent of Vestas’ sales.
Perhaps the Danish firm is now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In 2009, it had 22,000 employees, but that number had fallen to 16,000 recently as it completed a phase of consolidation – including a nearly entirely new management board. Now, the firm reports that the number of employees has risen back to 17,000.
source: http://www.renewablesinternational.net/vestas-back-in-the-black/150/435/81184/
Comments are closed.
