Vestas has returned to profit in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, benefitting from higher pricing and easing of supply chain constraints.
The Danish wind turbine maker posted a profit of €28m ($29.97m) for the three-month period that ended on 30 September 2023, compared with a €147m loss in 2022.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and special items rose by 161.4% to €264m from €101m over the period.
Its EBIT before special items was €70m in Q3 2023 versus a loss of €127m in the same period a year previously.
The company's revenues for the July–September 2023 quarter were €4.35bn, up 11.2% from €3.91bn in the previous year.
This was the result of increased value of turbine deliveries as well as stable volumes.
The highest income-generating market for the company was Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which contributed €2.07bn to revenues.
It was followed by the Americas, which contributed €1.66bn, and Asia-Pacific, which generated revenues of €625m.
At the power solutions division, revenues grew 10.3% to €3.41bn from €3.1bn while the service unit’s revenues increased 14.8% to €938m.
Vestas' spending on research and development rose 14.11% to €97m in the quarter from €85m a year earlier, while its administration costs dipped 5.8% from €86m to €81m.
Its distribution costs remained flat at €117m.
Order intake stood at 4.5GW in Q3 2023 – a 138% surge year-on-year. The combined order backlog was €54bn at the end of September 2023, a rise of €6bn from the previous year.
Vestas Group president and CEO Henrik Andersen stated: “Despite continued market design and permitting challenges, we saw strong commercial activity with underlying stable pricing and received 4.5GW of orders, including 2.1GW for our V236-15.0 MW offshore turbine. With around 50 days left of 2023, Vestas remains fully focused on becoming profitable again while strengthening our commercial and operational discipline.”
The company now projects an EBIT margin before special items of 0–2% in 2023, as against the earlier forecast of negative 2% to positive 3%.
Its outlook for 2023 revenues is €14.5bn–15.5bn, compared with the previous range of €14bn–15.5bn.
