Global wind power giant Vestas predicted an “even busier” 2020 after ending last year with a record 17.9GW of orders, but warned the cost pressures from trade wars and tariffs will continue to be an issue for the industry.
The Danish group hailed the growth of its burgeoning service business, which increased the value of its order backlog by €3.5bn ($3.9bn) to €17.8bn, underlining its “strategic performance in a tough market” and contributing to a record-high overall backlog of €34bn.
The 17.9GW of turbine orders booked compares to 14.2GW in 2018 and 11.2GW in 2017.
The Danish group posted full-year net profits of €700m for 2019, up from €683m in 2018, on revenues of €12.1bn, up from €10.1bn. The group’s margin before interest and tax, pre-special items, (Ebit) was 8.3%.
For the year ahead it sees revenues of €14bn-15bn, with service delivering a further 7% growth. Ebit before special items is expected to be 7-9%, with service running at about 25%.
CEO Henrik Andersen said: “In an extraordinarily busy year, Vestas extended its industry leadership, met its guidance on all parameters and scaled the company to deliver on our highest-ever order backlog.
“In 2019, the industry thus faced challenges from trade wars and tariffs, causing execution costs to increase, which we expect to continue in an even busier 2020.”
Andersen and other Vestas executives will discuss the results with financial analysts and journalists later on Wednesday.