US company Broadwind Energy made a loss of over $4.8m in the first three months of 2018, compared with a profit of $6.3m last year.
Revenue was down 47% to just under $30m, compared with over $56m in the first quarter of 2017.
The company said the figures were mainly down to $32.1m drop in revenue from its towers and heavy fabrications unit.
Tower sales were down 64% to $16.8m from $48.9m last year, because production facilities were restarting operations following a near shutdown in the fourth quarter of 2017, Broadwind said.
The business unit made a $1.1m net loss between January and the end of March, compared with a profit of $4m the previous year.
Broadwind did see an improved showing in its gearing business, with sales rising to $8.8m in the quarter from $3.9m in 2017.
The company said the increase was down to an expansion of its customer base and strong sales in oil and gas.
Broadwind chief executive Stephanie Kushner said: “We are regaining our footing after a very difficult second half of 2017. We booked $28m in orders during Q1 2018, which included the first significant tower order in a year following an inventory correction triggered by the merger of our two large tower customers.
“We are on track with our 2018 customer diversification initiative of more than $40m in orders outside of our core customer base.”
Image: Broadwind
Broadwind sees red
By EBS