Vestas Wind Turbine Maker Reports Profit Growth Amid Uncertainty
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Vestas, the world's biggest wind turbine maker, said uncertainty could weigh on performance, but the execution of its record order backlog would boost revenue, and it announced a share buyback as fourth-quarter results beat expectations.
Its share price was trading 1.39% higher at 1038 GMT on Wednesday on the Copenhagen bourse, reversing falls immediately after the results announcement.
Vestas' operating profit before special items in the fourth quarter grew to 759 million euros ($788 million) from 191 million a year earlier, against a mean forecast of 672 million in an analyst poll provided by Vestas.
It also predicted a full-year 2025 operating profit margin before special items of 4%-7% and revenue of between 18 billion and 20 billion euros against an average forecast in the analyst poll of 19.47 billion euros.
"Although ongoing geopolitical and trade volatility is expected to cause uncertainty, the execution of our record-high order backlog is expected to drive increased revenue in 2025," the company said in a statement.
The company proposed a dividend of 0.55 Danish crowns per share, and in a separate statement said it would initiate a share buy-back programme of up to 746 million Danish crowns ($104.25 million).
Analysts took a mixed view.
"The 2024 report was markedly better than expected and it sends some very confident signals and shows belief in the future," Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said.
"But the 2025 outlook is just not as strong as expected."
($1 = 7.1655 Danish crowns)
($1 = 0.9603 euros)
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Anna Ringstrom, Shri Navaratnam and Barbara Lewis)
