Nordex remains in red in 9-mo 2012 despite profit growth in Q3

(SeeNews) – Nov 13, 2012 - German wind turbine maker Nordex SE (ETR:NDX1) said today it more than doubled its net profit in annual terms in the third quarter, but remained in the red in the January-September period of 2012.

Thanks to a recovery on the European market as well as a 6% reduction in structural costs, the company's net profit rose to EUR 7.7 million (USD 9.7m) in the third quarter of 2012 from EUR 3.4 million a year earlier. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 63% year-on-year to EUR 15.4 million thanks to improved capacity utilisation.

However, operating loss in the wind turbine maker’s Asian business widened, while Nordex USA only came close to breaking even.

Third-quarter sales rose by 1.1% year-on-year to EUR 294.4 million.

Despite the sales and profitability improvement in the third quarter of 2012, Nordex registered a net loss of EUR 15.6 million for the January-September period of 2012, up from a loss of around EUR 600,000 a year earlier. EBIT dropped to EUR 2.3 million from EUR 11 million due to costs in connection with job cuts and the company's focus on its core business. However, sales grew to EUR 715.5 million from EUR 668.2 million in the prior-year period.

Nordex affirmed its 2012 sales forecast of between EUR 1 billion and EUR 1.1 billion, but due to supply delays it lowered its EBIT-margin expectations and said it expects the margin to stand at the lower end of the previous outlook of between 1% and 3%.

(EUR 1.00 = USD 1.26)

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