Hamburg, 14 August 2022. The Nordex Group (ISIN:DE000A0D6554) today announced that its business performance in the first six months of 2022 was in line with expectations, with sales decreasing to EUR 2.1 billion as a result of fewer installations (H1 2021: EUR 2.7 billion). Gross revenue, which also includes changes in inventories, fell by 4.5 percent to EUR 2.2 billion (H1 2021: EUR 2.3 billion). The decline in the second quarter was mainly driven by low installation figures outside Europe and Latin America. The indirect effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine also remained clearly visible in the operating results as reflected by the upheaval in the energy, raw materials and logistics markets. In this environment, EBITDA came to minus EUR 173.3 million (H1 2021: EUR 68.4 million). This corresponds to an EBITDA margin of minus 8.1 percent (H1 2021: 2.5 percent). Adjusted for the costs for footprint reconfiguration, the EBITDA stood at minus 143.7 million with minus 6.8 percent EBITDA margin.
Operating performance
The Nordex Group increased its order intake in the Projects segment (i.e. excluding services) by 7.9 percent to 3.0 GW in the first six months of 2022 (H1 2021: 2.8 GW), which corresponds to new orders worth EUR 2,357 million after EUR 1,962 million in the previous year. Of this order intake (in MW), 70 percent was attributable to Europe, 23 percent to Latin America and 7 percent to North America. At the end of the first half of the year, the Nordex Group’s order book increased considerably by 26 percent to stand at EUR 9.7 billion (H1 2021: EUR 7.7 billion), consisting of EUR 6.7 billion (H1 2021: EUR 4.8 billion) in the Projects segment and EUR 3.1 billion (H1 2021: EUR 2.9 billion) in the Service segment.
Production in turbine assembly fell by 5.5 percent in the first half of 2022, from 3,105 MW in the first half of 2021 to 2,935 MW. The number of rotor blades produced rose to 2,162 (H1/2021: 2,028), of which the Company itself produced 573 (H1/2021: 819) while 1,589 rotor blades were sourced from external suppliers (H1/2021: 1,209).
The Nordex Group installed 416 wind turbines in 16 countries with a total output of 1.9 GW in the first six months of 2022 (H1 2021: 775 wind turbines in 21 countries with a total output of 3.0 GW). Of the installations carried out in the period under review (in MW), 75 percent were attributable to Europe, 19 percent to Latin America and 6 percent to North America. This decrease had a considerable impact on sales in the Projects segment, which fell from EUR 2,484 million to EUR 1,902 million in the first half of the year. Sales in the Service segment rose slightly by 4.4 percent to EUR 226.3 million in the first half of the year (H1 2021: EUR 216.8 million).
Key financial figures at a glance
Total assets rose by 8.0 percent compared with the end of 2021 to around EUR 4.4 billion. The equity ratio was 17.9 percent as of 30 June 2022 (31 December 2021: 25.9 percent). This development was due to a higher level of total assets and the consolidated net loss. Including the capital raise from July, this would have been resulted in a pro forma equity ratio of 22.7 percent as of 30 June 2022. As of the reporting date, the Group had cash and cash equivalents of EUR 653 million (31 December 2021: EUR 784 million). The working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales was minus 10.8 percent (31 December 2021: minus 10.2 percent).
The Nordex Group is confirming its guidance for the current financial year of achieving consolidated sales of EUR 5.2 to 5.7 billion and an EBITDA margin of minus four to zero percent. Capital expenditure is expected to reach approximately EUR 180 million, while the working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales is predicted to be below minus 7 percent. The Nordex Group also confirms its strategic medium-term goal of achieving an EBITDA margin of 8 percent.
Capital increases implemented successfully; refinancing of the corporate bond secured early
The Nordex Group successfully implemented two capital increases against cash contributions, generating gross proceeds of around EUR 351 million in total: a EUR 139 million capital increase in June with the execution of subscription rights by way of a private placement with its anchor shareholder, and a EUR 212 million rights issue in July. At the same time, the Nordex Group was provided with a loan facility of EUR 286 million from its anchor shareholder, which will be used to repay the EUR 275 million bond maturing in February 2023. The two financial transactions implemented in July have not yet been included in the half-year figures for 2022.
“With markets remaining challenging, our business performance in the second quarter was as expected. In this environment, we nevertheless succeeded in significantly strengthening our capital structure. We continue to see a strong order book and have a competitive product portfolio. We are therefore confident that we will benefit from the positive growth prospects of our industry in the mid-term,” says José Luis Blanco, CEO of the Nordex Group.
