Nordex Q1 2022 Sales Down Sharply - Losses Widened

Hamburg, Germany - The Nordex Group has presented its figures for the first quarter of 2022. Sales are down significantly compared to the same quarter last year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are negative. The net loss is higher than in the same period last year. The share price slips.

Sales down by a quarter - negative EBITDA and earnings

Nordex Group published its business figures for the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022). Sales declined by 25.4 percent year-on-year to EUR 933 million (Q1 2021: EUR 1.251 billion). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the first quarter, including costs of 36.9 million euros for for reconfiguration of production, were minus 88.9 million euros (Q1 2021: 10.4 million euros). Adjusted for these one-time costs, EBITDA was minus 52.0 million euros and the adjusted EBITDA margin was minus 5.6 percent (Q1 2021: 0.8 percent). The bottom line is a negative net profit of minus EUR 150.5 million in Q1 2022, around EUR 95 million more than in the prior-year quarter (Q1 2021: minus EUR 54.7 million).

According to the RENIXX Group, the weaker sales development compared to Q1 2021 is due to the planned production changeover to other rotor blades and a weather-related lower installation output. In addition, higher raw material and logistics costs compared to the same quarter last year had a negative impact on profitability, Nordex said. " The start into 2022 has been difficult and has certainly unfolded differently than anyone expected. There are significant disruptions to the supply chain and the cost situation remains volatile ," said Nordex CEO José Luis Blanco.

Operating performance: project installations down

In the first quarter of 2022, the Nordex Group installed a total of 197 wind turbines in twelve countries with a total capacity of 867 MW. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, this represents a decline of 40 percent in terms of output (Q1 2021: 381 WTG, 1,453 MW). Of the installed capacity (in MW), 82 percent was in Europe, 10 percent in North America and 8 percent in Latin America. As a result of lower installations, sales in the Projects segment fell by 28.4 percent to EUR 819.8 million in the reporting period (Q1/2021: EUR 1.146 billion). By contrast, the Service segment continued its positive performance with a 7.1 percent increase in revenues to EUR 115.7 million (Q1 2021: EUR 108.0 million).

In the first three months of 2022, the Nordex Group recorded positive demand at the level of the previous year. Order intake (excluding the Service segment) corresponds to a value of EUR 903 million (Q1 2021: EUR 911 million) with a total nominal capacity of 1,165 MW (Q1 2021: 1,247 MW).

At the end of the quarter, the Projects segment reported an order backlog of €6.3 billion. This corresponds to an increase of around 24 percent (Q1 2021: EUR 5.1 billion). In the Service segment, the order backlog increased by 7.2 percent from EUR 2.8 billion to EUR 3.0 billion, resulting in a total order backlog for both segments of EUR 9.3 billion (March 31, 2021: EUR 7.9 billion).

Updated forecast 2022 confirmed

The wind turbine manufacturer confirms its forecast for fiscal 2022, which was updated on May 24, 2022. Accordingly, the company expects consolidated sales of EUR 5.2 billion to EUR 5.7 billion and an operating margin (EBITDA margin) of minus four to zero percent. In addition to the forecast for the current fiscal year 2022, Nordex also confirms its strategic objective of achieving a consolidated EBITDA margin of 8 percent in the medium term.

Stock under pressure

Investors reacted disappointed to the quarterly figures presented by Nordex, the stock loses. At the end of the day, the stock exits trading down 7.1 percent at EUR 8.63 (June 21, 2022, closing price, Stuttgart Stock Exchange). This puts Nordex at the bottom of the RENIXX. On balance, Nordex stock has thus fallen by around 38 percent since the beginning of the year.

Source: IWR Online, Jun 06 2022