Third quarter 2019

Interim financial report

Order intake, revenue, earnings, and free cash flow increased compared to last year's third quarter. Guidance for 2019 maintained.

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Vestas’ performance in the third quarter of 2019 was in line with expectations with a 30 percent increase year-over-year in revenue driven by all regions, reflecting unprecedented high activity levels. Our order backlog increased to a record-high EUR 32.8bn, which corresponds to a 38 percent increase year-over-year and underlines the continued strong global demand for Vestas’ wind energy solutions. Although our Service business continued to grow with high margins and the average selling price was stable in the quarter, our profitability remains impacted by tariffs and increased execution costs. With an order intake of more than 13 GW already in 2019 and a very busy 2020 ahead, we continue our relentless focus on execution and profitability, which enable us to sustain our competitiveness and lead the way towards a sustainable planet”.
Henrik Andersen, Group President & CEO

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Interim financial report Q3 2019

Financial and non-financial highlights
Financial performance
Power solutions
Service
Offshore
Onshore market development
Strategy and financial and capital structure targets
Social and environmental performance
Outlook 2019 and Financial calendar 2020
Consolidated financial statements

Audiocast

The Group President & CEO's and Executive Vice President & CFO's presentation of the interim financial report:
- audiocast
- investor presentation (pdf)

Roadshow

The overview shows which cities Vestas will be visiting during the coming roadshow.

Summary

Revenue, earnings, and free cash flow increased compared to last year’s third quarter. Solid order intake in the quarter and combined order backlog at all-time high level. Guidance for 2019 maintained.

In the third quarter of 2019, Vestas generated revenue of EUR 3,646m – an increase of 30 percent compared to the year-earlier period. EBIT before special items increased by EUR 153m to EUR 429m. The EBIT margin before special items was 11.8 percent compared to 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2018, and free cash flow* amounted to EUR 205m compared to EUR (223)m in the third quarter of 2018.

The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders amounted to 4,738 MW in the third quarter of 2019.

The value of the wind turbine order backlog amounted to EUR 16.5bn as at 30 September 2019. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with expected contractual future revenue of EUR 16.3bn at the end of September 2019. Thus, the value of the combined backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements stood at EUR 32.8bn – an increase of EUR 9.1bn compared to the year-earlier period.

Vestas maintains its 2019 guidance on revenue of EUR 11bn-12.25bn, EBIT margin before special items of 8-9 percent, and total investments* of approx. EUR 800m.

*) Excl. the acquisition of SoWiTec Group GmbH, any investments in marketable securities, and short-term financial investments.

Key highlights

Increased order intake and all-time high order backlog
4.7 GW of order intake in Q3; combined backlog up 38 percent YoY.

Total revenue of EUR 3,646m driven by all regions
30 percent increase compared to Q3 2018.

EBIT of EUR 429m
EBIT margin at 11.8 percent.

Strong service performance
Revenue growth of 8 percent, and EBIT of EUR 125m.

Share buy-back programme
EUR 200m share buy-back programme launched to adjust the capital structure.

Outlook 2019
Unchanged guidance for revenue, EBIT margin, and investments; service revenue upgraded.

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