Vestas generated revenue of € 1,988 million in the third quarter of 2012 – an increase of 49 per cent to the year-earlier period. EBIT before special items increased by € 105 million to € 13 million. EBIT after special items was € (140) million – negatively impacted by writedowns of development projects and other assets.
The free cash flow decreased to € (142) million from € 276 million in the third quarter of 2011. The net debt at 30 September 2012 amounted to € 1,287 million; an increase of 12 per cent during the quarter. The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders was 401MW in the third quarter of 2012 and the value of the wind turbine backlog amounted to € 8.3 billion at 30 September 2012. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with contractual future revenue of € 4.9 billion at the end of September 2012. Vestas retains its full-year guidance of an EBIT margin before special items of 0-4 per cent and revenue of € 6,500-8,000 million, including service revenue. Shipments are expected to be approximately 6.3GW. As a consequence of writedowns of R&D projects, closure of R&D centres and scaling down of the activities in India, special items are now expected to amount to € 225-250 million versus the previous guidance of € 75-125 million. Investments are lowered by € 100 million to € 350 million. Vestas is evaluating its manufacturing footprint including identification of outsourcing and divestment opportunities and is preparing the organisation for a manufacturing (shipment) level of approx 5GW. Consequently, Vestas expects to reduce its headcount further during 2013 through divestments, continuation of hiring freeze and layoffs. This is expected to bring down the number of employees to around 16,000 by the end of 2013 compared to 22,721 by the end of 2011 and an expected number of around 18,000 by the end of 2012 or early 2013. The additional cost savings are expected to amount to more than € 150 million on an annual basis
The free cash flow decreased to € (142) million from € 276 million in the third quarter of 2011. The net debt at 30 September 2012 amounted to € 1,287 million; an increase of 12 per cent during the quarter. The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders was 401MW in the third quarter of 2012 and the value of the wind turbine backlog amounted to € 8.3 billion at 30 September 2012. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with contractual future revenue of € 4.9 billion at the end of September 2012. Vestas retains its full-year guidance of an EBIT margin before special items of 0-4 per cent and revenue of € 6,500-8,000 million, including service revenue. Shipments are expected to be approximately 6.3GW. As a consequence of writedowns of R&D projects, closure of R&D centres and scaling down of the activities in India, special items are now expected to amount to € 225-250 million versus the previous guidance of € 75-125 million. Investments are lowered by € 100 million to € 350 million. Vestas is evaluating its manufacturing footprint including identification of outsourcing and divestment opportunities and is preparing the organisation for a manufacturing (shipment) level of approx 5GW. Consequently, Vestas expects to reduce its headcount further during 2013 through divestments, continuation of hiring freeze and layoffs. This is expected to bring down the number of employees to around 16,000 by the end of 2013 compared to 22,721 by the end of 2011 and an expected number of around 18,000 by the end of 2012 or early 2013. The additional cost savings are expected to amount to more than € 150 million on an annual basis