Interim financial report, second quarter 2016

Aarhus, Denmark, 2016-08-18 08:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  

Summary: In the second quarter of 2016, Vestas generated revenue of EUR 2,557m – an increase of 46 percent compared to the year-earlier period. EBIT before special items increased by EUR 254m to EUR 399m. The EBIT margin before special items was 15.6 percent compared to 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015 and the free cash flow amounted to EUR 330m compared to EUR 183m in the second quarter of 2015.

The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders amounted to 1,790 MW in the second quarter of 2016. The value of the wind turbine order backlog amounted to EUR 8.2bn at 30 June 2016. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with contractual future revenue of EUR 9.9bn at the end of June 2016. Thus, the value of the combined backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements stood at EUR 18.1bn – an increase of EUR 1.2bn compared to the year-earlier period.

Vestas upgrades the 2016 guidance on revenue from minimum EUR 9.0bn to minimum EUR 9.5bn, EBIT margin before special items from minimum 11.0 percent to minimum 12.5 percent, and free cash flow from minimum EUR 600m to minimum EUR 800m (incl. the acquisition of Availon Holding GmbH). The upgrade is based on better than expected performance in the first half of 2016 and visibility for the remainder of the year. 

Group President & CEO Anders Runevad said: “I am very pleased with Vestas’ strong second quarter performance.  Our colleagues have executed well on a high activity level, which along with a favourable mix of projects contributed to Vestas achieving extremely solid results on revenue, EBIT margin, net profit, and free cash flow and with an order intake in line with expectations.  We are upgrading the full-year guidance on revenue, EBIT margin, and free cash flow, and as a result of the strong performance we also continue delivering tangible shareholder value through the 2016 share buy-back programme that we are launching now”. 


Key highlights

High activity levels across the board
Deliveries up by 56 percent in Q2 2016 – driven by all regions.

Strong earnings
EBIT margin before special items of 15.6 percent – up by 7.3 percentage points compared to Q2 2015.

Order backlog continues at record-high level
Combined order backlog at EUR 18.1bn.

Guidance increased
Guidance for 2016 increased on revenue, EBIT margin, and free cash flow based on better than expected H1 2016 performance and visibility for the remainder of the year.

Share buy-back programme for 2016
EUR 400m share buy-back programme launched to adjust the capital structure.


Information meeting (audiocast)

Today, Thursday 18 August 2016 at 10 a.m. CEST (9 a.m. BST), Vestas will host an information meeting via an audiocast. The audiocast will be accessible via vestas.com/investor.

The meeting will be held in English and questions may be asked through a conference call. The telephone numbers for the conference call are: 

Europe: +44 203 008 9814
USA: +1 646 502 5118
Denmark: +45 3544 5576

Presentation material for the information meeting will be available approx one hour before the meeting at vestas.com/investor.


Contact details

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark
Hans Martin Smith, Senior Vice President, Group Treasury and Investor Relations
Tel: +45 9730 8209

Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Hedeager 42
8200 Aarhus N
Denmark

Company reg. No.: 10 40 37 82

Tel: +45 9730 0000
Fax: +45 9730 0001
vestas@vestas.com