Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Aarhus, 7 February 2019
Company announcement No. 03/2019
Summary: For full year 2018, revenue amounted to EUR 10.1bn, the EBIT margin before special items was 9.5 percent, total investments* were EUR 603m, and free cash flow* amounted to EUR 418m – in line with the expectations to revenue of EUR 10.0bn-10.5bn, an EBIT margin before special items of 9.5-10.5 percent, total investments* of approx. EUR 600m, and free cash flow* of approx. EUR 400m. Compared to 2017, revenue, earnings, and free cash flow decreased in 2018, but remained at a healthy level, despite highly competitive markets. Order intake increased in 2018 compared to 2017, and the value of the combined order backlog continued to grow during the year.
The wind turbine order intake increased from 11,176 MW in 2017 to 14,214 MW in 2018 and the value of the service order backlog increased by EUR 2.2bn to EUR 14.3bn.
For 2019, Vestas expects revenue to range between EUR 10.75bn and 12.25bn, including service revenue, which is expected to grow by approx. 10 percent. Vestas expects to achieve an EBIT margin before special items of 8-10 percent, with a service EBIT margin approx. 24 percent.
Total investments** are expected to amount to approx. EUR 700m in 2019.
As a result of the performance during the year, the Board of Directors of Vestas Wind Systems A/S proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of DKK 7.44 per share, compared to DKK 9.23 last year, and equivalent to 30.0 percent of the net profit for the year, be distributed to the shareholders.
“In 2018, wind energy manifested its position as the cheapest source of electricity in many parts of the world, creating a tremendous long-term growth outlook for the industry and a highly competitive environment short-term. 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 14.2 GW across 43 countries, all-time high order backlog of more than EUR 26bn, and record-high service revenue and margins. 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,” says Anders Runevad, Group President & CEO.
*) Excl. the acquisition of Utopus Insights, Inc., any investments in marketable securities, and short-term financial investments. **) Excl. any investments in marketable securities and short-term financial investments.
Information meeting (audiocast)
On Thursday, 7 February 2019 at 10 am CET (9 am GMT), Vestas will host an information meeting via an audiocast. The audiocast will be accessible via vestas.com/investor.
The meeting will be held in English and questions may be asked through a conference call. The telephone numbers for the conference call are:
Europe: +44 333 300 9265 USA: +1 646 722 4957 Denmark: +45 7815 0108
Further details at vestas.com/en/investor .
Presentation material for the information meeting will be available approx. one hour before the meeting at vestas.com/en/investor .
Contact details Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark
Investors/analysts Patrik Setterberg, Vice President Investor Relations Tel: +45 6122 1913
Media Anders Riis, Director Communications
Tel: +45 4181 3922
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