Sales between January and September 2008 climbed by 58 per cent to € 781.1 million (year-ago period: € 493.1 million). In the third quarter alone, Nordex registered an 85 per cent rise in order receipts to € 315.2 million (previous year: € 170.5 million.
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The strong growth was particularly driven by non-domestic demand, with around 95 per cent of revenues generated outside Germany. Production also rose in the period under review. Turbine assembly output surged by 47 per cent to 764MW (previous year: 520MW), while rotor blade production was up by as much as 69 per cent, rising from 250 to 422MW. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 60 per cent to € 37.3 million in the first nine months (€ 23.3 million), improving by 163 per cent to € 21.0 million (€ 8.0 million) in the third quarter. Net profit for the first nine months rose by 40 per cent to € 29.2 million (previous year: € 20.8 million). As of September 30, order receipts were valued at € 796 million, which is a slight decrease compared to the previous year (€ 823 million). However, the value of order books as of September 30, 2008 was up 74 per cent, rising to € 3.3 billion (previous year: € 1.9 billion) and comprising firm orders of € 1.0 billion and master contracts of € 2.3 billion. For the year as a whole, Nordex is still projecting sales of € 1.1 billion. Turning to 2009, the Management Board expects slower growth for the sector as a whole and for Nordex as some customers are finding it more difficult to obtain finance for their wind farm projects in the wake of the crisis afflicting the financial markets. As a result, there is a risk of projects being postponed. Nordex projects sales growth of between 10 and 15 per cent in 2009.