Nordex turns to quarterly net profit on growth in Europe and North America

Growth in Europe and a “decent momentum in North America” helped Nordex return to a net profit in the third quarter of 2024, while the German wind turbine manufacturer also posted rising orders.

Sales rose by 14% to €5.11bn ($5.50bn) in the first nine months of the year compared to the year-earlier period, reflecting higher average sales prices (€0.9/MW), higher activity levels and a growth in service revenues. Sales in the third quarter of 2024 fell to €1.67bn from €1.72bn in the year-earlier quarter.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) came in at €189m during the first nine months, compared to a negative Ebitda of €67m a year earlier. Third quarter Ebitda rose to €72m, from €48m in the third quarter of 2023.

The company still had a net loss of €9m during the first nine months of this year, but that was much narrower than the €334m net loss during the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2024, Nordex turned to a net profit, of €4m, compared to a net loss of €35m in the same quarter last year.

“I am very pleased with the operational progress over the past nine months, demonstrating a consistent increase in profitability each quarter and aligning with our expectations,” CEO José Luis Blanco said.

“In the third quarter again, we achieved a positive net profit and a positive free cash flow, showing consistent and sustainable progress.

“This puts us on a strong path to further improve profitability and reach our mid-term goal of an 8% Ebitda margin.”

The Ebitda margin is a measure of operational profitability.

During the first nine months of this year, it had reached 3.7%, compared to a negative Ebitda margin of 1.5% in the same period last year. In the third quarter of this year, the Ebitda margin came in at 4.3%, compared to 0.1% a year earlier.

“Our success is driven mainly by growth in Europe, and we are also seeing decent momentum in North America.”

Service revenue also grew, by 12%, during the first nine months, and Nordex today has 40.3GW in turbines under service contracts, the CEO said, who had a positive outlook for coming months.

“Nordex is well-positioned to capitalise on the environment of stable prices. With our substantial order intake pipeline and improving profitability levels, we are confident in our ability to generate a significant cash flow this year.

“Current developments and the ambitious targets across Europe and North America underpin the medium to long-term growth trajectory of our onshore industry.”