Vestas doubles Q3 profits, lifts 2015 forecast

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) said today its third-quarter (Q3) net profit more than doubled to EUR 206 million (USD 224m) from EUR 102 million a year earlier, as sales rose 17%.

“With greater clarity on deliveries for the remainder of the year and a very solid financial position, we are raising our guidance on revenue, EBIT margin, and free cash flow [...],” said president and CEO Anders Runevad. Details are available in the table.

Figures in EUR	Updated forecast	Prior forecast
Revenue	8 billion-8.5 billion	at least 7.5 billion
EBIT margin before special items	9%-10%	at least 8.5%
Free cash flow	EUR 800 million-1 billion	at least EUR 600 million

As per the Q3 results, Vestas reported a EUR-69-million increase in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) before special items to EUR 232 million. The EBIT margin before special items was 10.9%. Free cash flow went up by EUR 53 million to EUR 158 million.

Third-quarter revenue climbed to EUR 2.12 billion from EUR 1.81 billion largely thanks to higher MW delivery volumes. In July-September 2015, Vestas produced and shipped 2,477 MW of wind turbines compared to 2,183 MW a year back.

The company’s order intake, including only firm and unconditional orders, reached 1,508 MW, rising from 1,170 MW a year back. Its order backlog is valued at EUR 8.2 billion as at the end of September. At the time, Vestas also had service agreements with contractual future revenue of EUR 8.2bn, thus boosting the combined backlog to EUR 16.4 billion, which is an year-on-year increase of EUR 3 billion.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.087)

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