Vestas grew revenue in 2018 to just over €10bn, marginally up on the year-ago period, but recorded an around €400m fall in gross profit, down from almost €2bn on the 2017 result.
The Danish turbine manufacturer, which said the results were in line with guidance, said income of €1.6bn was driven by Americas where 44% of its business was done last year, up 2% on 2017, compared to 42% for Europe, Middle East and Africa combined, down from 49%.
Lower gross profit was driven by lower average project margins in the power solutions segment, which reflected mainly increased competition and some additional ramp up costs related to new products, Vestas said.
Order intake for 2018 was 14.2GW, worth €10.6bn, compared to 11.2GW in 2017, which carried a value of €8.9bn. The company’s order backlog at the year-end was 15.6GW.
Vestas grew its service business to hold a backlog of €14.3bn by the year-end, up from €12.1bn at end-2017. Revenue from the segment for 2018 was €1.7bn, up 10% year-on-year.
The company has guided a revenue range of between €10.7bn and €12.2bn for the year-ahead, including a 10% projected bump in revenue for its service division. Total investments for the year will be €700m.
“As the industry continued to mature and became mainstream, Vestas met its 2018 guidance and clearly led the industry on all key parameters, including highest ever order intake of 14.2GW across 43 countries, all-time high order backlog of more than €26bn, and record-high service revenue and margins,” said chief executive Anders Runevad (pictured).
“Together with the continued underlying stabilisation in pricing and our strong focus on efficiency and cost management, we sustained and strengthened the foundation that enables us to execute a very busy 2019 as well as develop the sustainable energy solutions of the future.”