The Nordex Group has reported results for the first quarter of 2021. Sales increased from EUR 964.6 million in the previous year's quarter to EUR 1,251.2 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came to EUR 10.4 million, slightly down compared to the previous year's level of EUR 13.1 million. This results in an EBITDA margin of 0.8 percent (Q1/2020: 1.4 percent).
In the first quarter of 2021, the Nordex Group increased installations output, installing 356 wind turbines in 20 countries with a total capacity of 1,400MW. In the same quarter of the previous year, 269 wind turbines were installed in 21 countries with a total capacity of 899MW. Of the installed capacity (in MW), 57 percent was in Europe, 21 percent in North America, 16 percent in Latin America and 6 percent in the rest of the world. Sales in the projects segment increased from EUR 862.6 million in the prior-year quarter to EUR 1,145.7 million in the reporting period. For the service segment sales increased by 5.9 percent to EUR 108.0 million (Q1/2020: EUR 102.0 million).
In the first quarter of 2021, the Nordex Group produced a total of 304 turbines with a rated capacity of just under 1,300MW compared to 448 turbines with a rated capacity of 1,641 MW in the first quarter of the previous year. In the rotor blade production the number of rotor blades produced rose by 19.3 percent from 321 units in the previous year to 383 units.
Order intake in the projects segment was 1,247MW in the first three months of 2021. In the same quarter of the previous year, order intake amounted to 1,644 MW. The order intake (excluding the service segment) for the first quarter of 2021 corresponds to a value of EUR 911 million (Q1/2020: EUR 1,185 million). Of this order volume (in MW), 92 percent was attributable to ten countries in Europe and 8 percent to Mexico (reporting region Latin America). The largest individual markets in Europe were Spain, Turkey, Germany and Finland. At the end of the quarter, the Projects segment had an order backlog of EUR 5.1 billion (March 31, 2020: EUR 5.8 billion). At the end of 2020, the Nordex Group had an order backlog of EUR 5.3 billion, which decreased in the course of the first quarter of 2021 due to increased installations. In the Service segment, the order backlog increased further by 8.1 percent from EUR 2.6 billion to EUR 2.8 billion, resulting in a total order backlog for both segments of EUR 7.9 billion (March 31, 2020: EUR 8.4 billion).
Nordex Group confirms its guidance for the financial year 2021 and is forecasting an EBITDA margin of between 4.0 percent and 5.5 percent based on expected revenues of between EUR 4.7 and EUR 5.2 billion. The Group targets to achieve sales of approximately EUR 5 billion in the short term, and it is its strategic task to reach a Group EBITDA margin of 8 percent for the financial year 2022.