Nordex targets profitable double-digit growth in 2015

On the basis of its audited consolidated financial statements which have now been released, Nordex (ISIN: DE000A0D6554) confirms the preliminary figures for 2014 reported in February. According to these figures, the Group increased its sales by some 21 percent to EUR 1,734.5 million in 2014 (2013: EUR 1,429.3 million), with earnings before interest and taxes rising by 76 percent to EUR 78.0 million (2013: EUR 44.3 million). Consolidated net profit grew almost four-fold to EUR 39.0 million (2013: EUR 10.3 million). Due to the increased profit and a further improvement in the working capital ratio to -2.3% (2013: 2.2%), free cash flow rose to EUR 88.7 million (2013: EUR 23.8 million).

At EUR 1,754 million in 2014, order intake exceeded expectations slightly and was up 16.7 percent on the previous year (2013: EUR 1,503 million). With the book-to-bill ratio consistently positive, the backlog of firmly financed orders continued to rise to EUR 1,462 million as of the reporting date (2013: EUR 1,259 million).

“Our order book and the current strong momentum in demand for our products form a good basis for a continued positive performance this year,” said Nordex CEO Dr. Jürgen Zeschky during the presentation of the full-year figures in Frankfurt. The Management Board expects sales to continue to grow at a double-digit rate to EUR 1.9 - 2.1 billion. At the same time, the Company is working on improving its EBIT margin to 5 - 6% in 2015.

Nordex considers its top-line growth to be largely secured as firm orders have for the most part already been received for the projects planned this year. Thus, just a few days ago, it received a major order from Latin America. Moreover, product development is proceeding according to plan, with series production of the N131/3000 to commence in the summer. This turbine is able to produce an up to 28% greater energy yield at light wind locations. At the same time, Nordex has worked on lowering the costs of the main components used in the turbine to harness efficiency gains.

Says Zeschky: “We remain committed to our strategic projects, i.e. intensified product development, the programme aimed at continuously lowering product costs, efficient project execution and expansion of our service business. In this way, we want to substantially improve our earnings and also achieve further volume growth by 2017. We are now more optimistic about the mid-term sales target.” Nordex announced its medium-term forecast in September 2014 and will update it during the course of the year.