• Sales of EUR 3.2 billion in the first nine months of 2020
• EBITDA margin of 2.2 percent
• Sale of European project development business to RWE completed successfully
• Production output rises to 4.4 GW at the end of September
• Order backlog remains strong at EUR 7.9 billion
• Healthy demand for Delta4000 product series continues
• Strategic target set to achieve EBITDA margin of 8 percent in 2022

The Nordex Group increased its consolidated sales by 63 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020 to EUR 3,167.4 million (9M 2019: EUR 1,943.0 million). This growth is mainly attributable to the significant increase in installations and production in the Projects segment. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 70.8 million (9M/2019: EUR 60.2 million), resulting in an EBITDA margin of 2.2 percent (9M/2019: 3.1 percent). The sale of the European project development business had a positive effect on earnings, generating gross proceeds of around EUR 400 million, whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and significant non-recurring items depressed earnings.

Together with its preliminary figures, the Company also published its new guidance for 2020. The Nordex Group now expects to generate consolidated sales of around EUR 4.4 billion and an EBITDA margin of 2 percent. Capital expenditure is likely to amount to around EUR 170 million and the working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales is expected to be below minus 4 percent at the end of the year.

Operating performance 

In the first nine months of 2020, the Nordex Group recorded order intake of 3,759 MW in its Projects segment (excluding services) (9M 2019: 4,742 MW); this corresponds to a value of EUR 2,641.7 million (9M 2019: EUR 3,313.5 million). Of this order intake, 64 percent was attributable to Europe, 20 percent to Latin America and 16 percent to North America. By the end of September 2020, the Nordex Group had an order backlog of EUR 7.9 billion (9M 2019: EUR 8.1 billion), of which EUR 5.1 billion (9M 2019: EUR 5.6 billion) relate to the Projects segment and EUR 2.8 billion (9M 2019: EUR 2.5 billion) to the Service segment.

The Nordex Group's turbine assembly output increased further. The Company expanded its production by 43 percent from 3,095 MW in the previous year to 4,415 MW in the first three quarters of 2020. In addition, the Nordex Group produced 990 rotor blades in its own factories (9M/2019: 1,093 blades).

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nordex Group increased its installation output and erected a total of 1,052 wind turbines in 21 countries with a total output of 3,817 MW (9M/2019: 476 wind turbines in 16 countries with a total output of 1,565 MW). This corresponds to an increase of over 140 percent compared to the same period last year. Europe accounted for around 43 percent of installations and non-European markets for 57 percent. As a result of these installations, the Projects segment generated sales of EUR 2,851.9 million (9M 2019: EUR 1,658.4 million) during the reporting period. Sales in the Service segment continued their steady growth, rising by 10.9 percent to EUR 318.3 million as of the end of September (9M 2019: EUR 287.1 million).

Key financial figures at a glance
As of 30 September 2020, total assets increased compared to the end of 2019, in part due to the receivables from RWE, which triggered a corresponding increase in other current financial assets by 16.6 percent to EUR 4,665.4 million. The equity ratio was 13.6 percent as of 30 September 2019 (31 December 2019: 18.6 percent). Net debt amounted to EUR 492.8 million (31 December 2019: EUR 84.0 million) and the working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales came to minus 5.7 percent (31 December 2018: minus 9.1 percent).

The Group expects business to show a positive trend in 2021. A comprehensive company program which consolidates key initiatives for further improving the Group's operating business and securing its strategic targets is set to make a significant contribution to this development. Further momentum will be provided by the Group's competitive product portfolio and the public discourse on "green recovery" for the broader economy. In light of this, the Management Board of Nordex SE aims to generate sales of around EUR 5 billion with an EBITDA margin of 8 percent in 2022.

"By the end of 2020, we will have evolved the Nordex Group into a 6 GW company - despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile our supply chain has largely recovered, production is also returning to normal for the most part and our concepts are effective," says José Luis Blanco, CEO of Nordex SE. "Demand for our product portfolio is very strong, as we have seen from recent orders for several hundred megawatts in the USA alone. Our focus is now on efficiently implementing our company program and expanding our capacity and supply chain in India for the global market in order to achieve our strategic targest for 2022."

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Nordex Group