Nordex raises full-year guidance for 2013 following a strong first half

The Nordex Group (ISIN: DE000A0D6554) posted a 57% increase in sales to around EUR 661 million in the first half of 2013 (H1/2012: EUR 421 million). This positive trend reflects growing business in Europe, where Nordex generated 93% (H1/2012: 80%) of its sales. At the same time, the proportion of business from America and Asia taken together declined. This good operating performance is also attributable to the substantially greater production output and turbine installation. Thus, production of turbines rose 93% to 657.2 megawatts (MW), while the capacity of newly installed turbines doubled almost to 560.8 MW.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved significantly to EUR 15 million (H1/2012: loss of EUR 13.1 million at the EBIT level), materially underpinned by increased productivity, the successful marketing of new turbines and technical solutions and various cost-cutting efforts. These included, for example, a further reduction in product costs (“CORE 15”) and measures to reduce structural expenses. In this connection, Nordex decided in the second quarter of 2013 to discontinue production at its plants in the United States and China on account of their low capacity utilisation. The associated costs had already been included in the exceptional expense placed on the books in 2012. After tax, Nordex earned net consolidated profit of EUR 1.3 million in this period (H1/2012: net loss of EUR 23.3 million).

With a slight increase in the equity ratio to 28.4% as of 30 June 2013, the Group continues to have a stable balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 174.7 million, with net debt amounted to a low EUR 18 million. At the same time, Nordex reduced its working capital ratio to 9.5% (H1/2012: 21.4%) thanks to strict cash management.

Nordex’s new business is continuing to grow at a considerable pace, with order intake up a further 61% to EUR 839.4 million (H1/2012: 521.8 million), thus reaching a new record. The group achieved substantial success in its core EMEA region, which accounted for 86% of new business. As a result, firm order backlog has risen of EUR 1.3 billion. In addition, the group has conditional orders on its books worth over EUR 1.0 billion.

On the strength of the favourable business performance in the year to date, Nordex SE’s Management Board has raised its forecast for the rest of the year and is now looking for full-year sales and order intake of EUR 1.3 - 1.4 billion in 2013 (previously: EUR 1.2 - 1.3 billion). The EBIT margin target has been adjusted upwards to 2.5 - 3.5% (previously: 2.0 - 3.0%) and the target corridor for the working capital ratio now stands at 10 - 15% (previously: 15%).

“The Management Board is very satisfied with Nordex’s current business performance. The strong demand for our turbines and our heightened productivity are showing that we are headed in the right direction with our strategy. We are now even more confident about the immediate future,” says Nordex CEO Jürgen Zeschky.