EANS-Adhoc: Nordex closing 2011 in line with forecast, targeting a return to
profit
Sales down 5% to EUR 921 million
Loss of EUR 10.3 million at the EBIT level before one-offs
Gross margin stable thanks to cost-cutting
50% increase in ...
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ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro
adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely
responsible for the content of this announcement.
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preliminary financial statement
28.02.2012
On basis of its provisional consolidated financial statements, the Nordex Group
(ISIN: DE000A0D6554) closed 2011 in line with its current forecast. In November
2011, the Management Board announced that Nordex would be reporting lower sales
and an operating loss of around EUR 10 million for the year as a whole. The 5%
decline in sales to EUR 921 million is chiefly due to project postponements in
Southern Europe and the relatively weak starting point early on in 2011. At the
beginning of 2011, the order book amounted to EUR 411 million. In addition,
order intake in China dropped by 80% in the course of the year, leading to a 57%
drop in sales in Asia. On the other hand, US sales doubled, although this was
not sufficient to fully make up for the declines recorded in other regions.
Nordex was able to partially cushion the effect of the general pressure on
prices in the wind power industry by establishing a comprehensive cost-cutting
programme, with which it wants to trim its product costs by up to 15% by the end
of 2012. As a result, the gross margin remained above 25%. At the same time,
structural costs rose by 16.9% to EUR 264.2 million (previous year: EUR 219.6
million). Together with the lower sales, this trend exerted pressure on
operating earnings, resulting in a loss of EUR 10.3 million before interest,
taxes and one-offs (previous year: EBIT of EUR 40.1 million). Nordex responded
to this at the end of 2011 by implementing a further cost-cutting program to
reduce structural costs by EUR 50 million. In this connection, 253 full-time
jobs were cut, resulting in one-off expense of EUR 13.1 million. Moreover, R&D
expense of EUR 6.3 million for an offshore turbine was not capitalised. Nordex
is currently engaged in talks with potential partners with a view to integrating
its offshore business in a joint venture. However, the negotiations have not yet
reached a stage indicating the imminent execution of these plans. Total loss at
the EBIT level after one-offs thus stands at EUR 29.7 million.
The Group´s liquidity widened by 50% in 2011 to EUR 212 million (previous year:
EUR 141 million). Net debt stood at EUR 18.8 million (previous year: net
liquidity EUR 24.3 million). A net cash outflow of EUR 43.3 million arose from
operating activities (previous year: net cash inflow of EUR 20.3 million) and
was chiefly due to high inventories for short-term deliveries in the United
States. In the second half of 2011, Nordex recorded net cash inflow from
operating activities of EUR 79.1 million (30 June 2011: net cash outflow of EUR
122.4 million).
With the 32% increase in order intake to EUR 1.1 billion, the value of firm
orders in hand also rose by 70% to EUR 698 million (previous year: EUR 411
million). On this basis, the Management Board assumes that sales will grow to
EUR 1.0 - 1.1 billion this year. Depending on sales volumes and future trends in
turbine prices, an EBIT margin of 1 - 3% is expected. A net cash inflow from
operating activities should be generated as of the end of 2012 thanks to
improved working capital management. Nordex expects stronger sales in the second
half of the year and assumes that the volume of committed capital will rise
until summer 2012.
Further inquiry note:
Ralf Peters
Head of Corporate Communication
Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 30 15 22
rpeters@nordex-online.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Nordex SE
Langenhorner Chaussee 600
D-22419 Hamburg
phone: +49 (0)40 30030-1000
FAX: +49 (0)40 30030-1101
mail: info@nordex-online.com
WWW: http://www.nordex-online.com
sector: Alternative energy
ISIN: DE000A0D6554, DE0000A0D66L2
indexes: TecDAX, CDAX, HDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share, ÖkoDAX
stockmarkets: free trade: Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart,
regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt
language: English