Nordex closes 2012 with record order intake

Hamburg, Germany - According to final calculations, order intake amounted to EUR 628 million in the fourth quarter (Q4 2011: EUR 400 million) and the new business of the Nordex Group increased by 14.6 percent in 2012 to a new record of EUR 1,268.4 million (2011: EUR 1,107 million).

At the same time, the Company announced today that it expects non-recurring expense of EUR 60 - 75 million for 2012 in connection with the planned struc-tural adjustments in the United States and China. In autumn 2012, the Management Board had announced steps to place the two foreign operations on a sustained profitable basis. One of the first steps in this direction was the an-nouncement made by the Management Board in December 2012 that rotor blade production is to be discontinued in China. In the course of the year, Nordex had come under strain as a result of low capacity utilization in China and the United States. The Company will be announce details of the reorgani-zation measures for these subsidiaries in due course.

The record order intake was driven by strong demand in the EMEA region, which contributed 94 percent of the new business. Only around one percent of new business came from China and some five percent from America. In this region, Nordex successfully entered the South American market after receiving a major order from Uruguay. A further reason for the company's sales success was the strong demand for the multi-MW platform. Thus, more than half of all new contracts were accounted for the two largest wind power systems, the N100/2500 and the new N117/2400. Nordex has been producing the N117/2400 in series since summer 2012 and sold out of this product in that year. The company has completed the first major N117 project on schedule in 2012.

In addition, Nordex is confirmed today its forecast of an operating margin (EBIT before non-recurring expenses) of around one percent. On the basis of this preliminary data, Nordex continues to have a solid balance sheet as of 31 December 2012. Liquidity rose by 28 percent to EUR 273 million; adjusted for financial liabilities in connection with a bond issue and towards banks, net liquidity stands at around EUR 50 million as of the reporting date (31 December 2011: net debt of EUR 18.9 million). The equity ratio should remain stable at around 30 percent.

Source: IWR Online, 15 Jan 2013