Nordex Confirms 2019 Guidance

The Nordex Group today announced that it generated consolidated sales of EUR 1,943.0 million in the first nine months of 2019 (9M 2018: EUR 1,772.9 million). As expected, the third quarter contributed significantly to this sales increase with sales of EUR 952.2 million (9M/2018: EUR 815.7 million). Gross revenue rose by 43.7 percent from EUR 1,753.3 million to EUR 2,519.7 million. This figure also includes services provided but not yet shown as sales, such as turbines manufactured. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 60.2 million (9M 2018: EUR 71.4 million), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 3.1 percent (9M 2018: 4.0 percent). This means that the Nordex Group’s business performed in line with expectations in the first nine months of the year, with the third quarter proving to be much stronger than the previous two quarters as expected. The Company anticipates a further increase in business development in the fourth quarter and thus confirms its guidance for 2019. It expects consolidated sales of EUR 3.2 to 3.5 billion, an EBITDA margin of 3.0 to 5.0 percent, investments of around EUR 160 million and a working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales of under 2 percent.

Higher investments in production capacity

The Nordex Group increased its investments from EUR 60.4 million in the previous year to EUR 100.9 million. At EUR 80.9 million, the majority of this investment is attributable to additional production capacity, particularly for rotor blades. These investments are the result of persistently strong momentum in orders for the new Delta4000 platform and should support profitable growth in 2020 and beyond.

Operating performance

In the first nine months of 2019, the Nordex Group increased its order intake in the Projects segment (excluding services) from 3,070.4 MW to 4,741.8 MW; this corresponds to a value of EUR 3,313.5 million (9M 2018: EUR 2,342.5 million). Of this total, 45 percent related to Europe, 34 percent to North America, 18 percent to Latin America and 3 percent to the rest of the world. By the end of September 2019, the Nordex Group had an order book of EUR 8.1 billion (9M 2018: EUR 5.3 billion), of which EUR 5.6 billion (9M 2018: EUR 3.1 billion) related to the Projects segment and EUR 2.5 billion (9M 2018: EUR 2.2 billion) to the Service segment.

The Nordex Group's production output increased further due to the planned rise in installations. The Company expanded its turbine assembly production by 78 percent from 1,736 MW in the previous year to 3,095 MW in the first three quarters of this year. The Nordex Group produced 1,093 rotor blades, up from 648 by the same point in the previous year. The Nordex Group's production is always aligned with the delivery obligations associated with its projects.

In the first three quarters of 2019, the Nordex Group installed a total of 476 wind turbines in 16 countries with a combined output of 1,565 MW (9M 2018: 1,719 MW), with Europe accounting for around 47 percent of installations and non-European markets for 53 percent. As a result of these installations, the Projects segment generated sales of EUR 1,658.4 million (9M 2018: EUR 1,517.0 million) during the reporting period. Sales in the Service segment rose by 11.1 percent to EUR 287.1 million in the first nine months of the year (9M 2018: EUR 258.4 million) to continue their steady growth.

Key financial figures at a glance

As of 30 September 2019, total assets grew by 30.6 percent to EUR 3,995.8 million compared to the end of 2018, particularly due to the increase in inventories for upcoming installations. The equity ratio was 15.5 percent as of 30 September 2019 (31 December 2018: 22.8 percent). Net debt amounted to EUR 200.9 million (31 December 2018: EUR 32.5 million) and the working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales improved to minus 5.2 percent (31 December 2018: minus 3.8 percent).

At the start of the fourth quarter, Nordex SE carried out a 10 percent capital increase via a direct placement with its anchor shareholder Acciona S.A. As the Company received the gross issuing proceeds in the amount of around EUR 99 million in the fourth quarter, these proceeds are not included in the quarterly figures as of 30 September.

José Luis Blanco, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nordex Group, said: “The Nordex Group’s business is performing in line with our expectations in 2019, with a significantly stronger second half of the year. In light of this, we are confirming our guidance for the current financial year. Demand for our new Delta4000 product range remains very strong. It is now important for us to process a high number of projects efficiently while at the same time pushing ahead with the transformation of our supply chain.”