Preliminary Q2 figures drive Vestas stock up 12%

Aug 1, 2012 - Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S saw its shares rise nearly 12% yesterday after it released preliminary figures for the second quarter of 2012, which showed it returned to profitability after a weak first quarter.

During the second quarter, Vestas manufactured and shipped turbines with a combined capacity of 2,160 MW, up by 132% quarter-on-quarter and by 52% year-on-year.

Revenues landed at EUR 1.611 billion (USD 1.981bn), which represents an increase of 46% from the first three months of 2012 and of 15% from the second quarter of 2011. However, the top line failed the EUR-1.748-billion consensus estimate in an analyst poll by SME Direkt.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) before special items came in at EUR 40 million in April-June 2012, versus a loss of EUR 204 million in the preceding quarter and a profit of EUR 77 million a year earlier. The corresponding margin shrank to 2.5% from 5.5% a year earlier.

On the bottom line, however, Vestas booked a loss of EUR 8 million in April-June 2012 compared with a year-earlier profit of EUR 55 million.

On Tuesday, the company's shares closed at DKK 28.96, up by 11.6%, on the stock exchange in Copenhagen.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.230)
(DKK 1.0 = USD 0.165/EUR 0.134)

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