Vestas shares plunge after disappointing H1 results, 2010 guidance cut - 2

(ADPnews) - Aug 18, 2010 - Shares in Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) dropped over 20% in Copenhagen today after the Danish wind turbine maker slipped to a larger-than-expected loss in the first half of 2010 and cut its full-year expectations.

At 1045 CET on Wednesday, the stock in Vestas traded at DKK 249.80, down by 20.51%, on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Copenhagen.

Vestas slipped to an operating loss of EUR 244 million (USD 313.5m) in January-June 2010 from a year-earlier profit of EUR 154 million, the company said in its interim report, published today. At the same time, revenues shrank 24% to EUR 1.762 billion. Analysts polled by RB Boersen had on average expected an operating loss of EUR 83 million and revenues of EUR 1.8 billion.
The first-half net loss landed at EUR 201 million versus a year-earlier profit of EUR 99 million.

In the second quarter of 2010, Vestas saw its revenues drop 17% on the year to EUR 1.007 billion, which was in line with the company's expectations. The wind turbine maker slipped to an operating loss of EUR 148 million and a net loss of EUR 119 million compared with a profit of EUR 78 million and EUR 43 million, respectively, in April-June 2009.

"The decline in revenue and earnings reflects the very low level of activity in the wake of the credit crisis and Vestas's decision not to adjust its capacity further because of short-term market developments," the company said.

During the second quarter of 2010, order intake amounted to a record-high 3,031 MW, on par with the full 2009. The backlog of firm and unconditional orders totalled 5,061 MW with a combined value of EUR 5.2 billion at the end of June.

In the first half of 2010, Vestas shipped wind turbines with a total capacity of 975 MW and was, as expected, far from utilising its full capacity. For the second half of 2010, the company sees a much higher capacity utilisation, which will have a positive effect on the operating margin.

For the full 2010, Vestas expects revenues of some EUR 6 billion and an operating margin of 5-6%. The previous forecast had been for revenues of EUR 7 billion and a margin of 10-11%. The downgrade was attributed to the fact that expected but still not concluded orders for delivery to the USA, Spain and Germany will take place very late in 2010 and will therefore not be recognised as income this year.

(DKK 1.0 = USD 0.172/EUR 0.134)
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.285)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!