On the basis of its provisional consolidated financial statements for 2016, the Nordex Group has reported that it achieved its targets.
Specifically, sales climbed by 40% to EUR 3.4 billion, including sales of EUR 726 million contributed by its new subsidiary, Acciona Windpower (AWP), which was consolidated from April 1, 2016, following Nordex’s acquisition.
According to the German turbine manufacturer, the main sales driver was Europe, which brought in EUR 2.3 billion, equivalent to a share of 69%. Moreover, the share accounted by the Americas increased sharply to 22% (compared with 11.7% in 2015). Nordex attributes part of this success to AWP, which holds a strong position in these growth markets.
Total sales also include the service business, which grew by 28% to EUR 271.6 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed by 56.6% to EUR 285.5 million, translating into a margin of 8.4%, which is slightly above guidance. In addition, consolidated net profit increased by 82.4% to EUR 95.4 million.
The group says it continues to have a solid balance sheet; the equity ratio is stable at 31.4% (compared with 31.2% in 2015).
In total, Nordex registered total new orders of EUR 3.3 billion in 2016, and its book-to-bill ratio came to 1.05. This led to an increase in the order book – including service contracts – to EUR 3.9 billion (compared with EUR 2.7 billion in 2015).
As stated on Feb. 23, the management board projects sales of EUR 3.1 billion-3.3 billion in 2017. The decline over the previous year is due to project postponements in some core markets and delays in entry into the Indian market, according to the company.
Despite lower capacity utilization, profitability should remain stable, thanks to the synergy benefits harnessed from the merger with AWP and the absence of most of the non-recurring expenses that had arisen in 2016. The EBITDA margin is expected to amount to between 7.8% and 8.2%.
Turning to 2018, management expects sales to grow again to EUR 3.4 billion-3.6 billion, accompanied by stable profitability.
Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, CEO of the company, says, “In order to improve profitability, we will focus more strongly on activities that offer above-average margins. At the same time, we will step up spending on products to secure targeted competitive advantages.”
