Vestas Swung to 1Q Profit, Backs 2023 Guidance

   By Elena Vardon 
 

Vestas Wind Systems backed its full-year guidance on Wednesday as it posted a swing to net profit for the first quarter of 2023 on higher pricing and volumes of delivered projects.

The Danish wind-turbine maker posted a net profit of 16 million euros ($17.5 million) for the three months ended March 31 on the sale of its converter business, lower warranty provisions and growth in its service business. This compares with a net loss of EUR765 million for the year-prior period, while consensus, taken from FactSet and based on five analysts' forecasts, had expected a net loss of EUR54 million.

Revenue rose 14% on year to come in at EUR2.83 billion, beating the EUR2.62 billion penciled by the same consensus.

Wind turbine order intake in the quarter amounted to 3.3 gigawatts or EUR2.9 billion, while the value of total turbine and service order backlog rose to EUR50.7 billion at March 31, a EUR1.8 billion increase on year.

It posted earnings before interest and taxes after special items of EUR66 million, ahead of consensus' expected EBIT loss of EUR33 million and the previous year's EBIT loss of EUR894 million. Its EBIT margin before special items was 1.4%, it said.

"The wind industry remains challenged by political uncertainty, slow permitting processes, and high inflation, which we expect to continue throughout 2023, but we are on track for our 2023 financial guidance," Chief Executive Henrik Andersen said.

Write to Elena Vardon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2023 02:40 ET (06:40 GMT)

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