Vestas Wind Systems A/S: Vestas Annual report 2017

Aarhus, Denmark, 2018-02-07 08:28 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Summary: For full year 2017, revenue amounted to EUR 10.0bn, the EBIT margin
was 12.4 percent, total net investments* were EUR 407m, and free cash flow*
amounted to EUR 1,218m - in line with the expectations to revenue of EUR
9.50bn-10.25bn, an EBIT margin of 12-13 percent, total net investments* of
approx. EUR 400m, and free cash flow* of EUR 1,150m-1,250m. Compared to 2016,
revenue, earnings, and free cash flow decreased in 2017, but remain at a
healthy level, despite highly competitive markets. Order intake in MW increased
in 2017 compared to 2016, and the value of the combined order backlog continued
to grow during the year. 

The wind turbine order intake increased from 10,494 MW in 2016 to 11,176 MW in
2017 and the value of the service order backlog increased by EUR 1.4bn to EUR
12.1bn. 

For 2018, Vestas expects revenue to range between EUR 10bn and 11bn, including
service revenue, which is expected to grow. Vestas expects to achieve an EBIT
margin of 9-11 percent, with the service EBIT margin remaining stable. 

Total investments** are expected to amount to approx. EUR 500m, and free cash
flow** is expected to be minimum EUR 400m in 2018. 

Vestas is able to present updated long-term financial ambitions that reflect
its projection for market conditions and the presumed result of its strategy. 

Vestas envisions market conditions which in the long term will reflect wind
power having achieved merchant levels in the vast majority of markets. The wind
power industry is undergoing a transition towards a more mature, unsubsidised
renewable energy industry. This transition leads to a highly competitive
market, and will likely drive a further consolidation in the industry. Beyond
the transition, a matured market for wind energy creates opportunities for
Vestas to leverage and strengthen its leadership position. Within this context,
Vestas maintains its ambition to be the market leader in revenue, while the
EBIT-margin ambition is changed to at least 10 percent from previously
best-in-class margins. 

As a result of the strong performance during the year, the Board of Directors
proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of DKK 9.23 per share,
compared to DKK 9.71 last year, and equivalent to 29.9 percent of the net
profit for the year, be distributed to the shareholders. A new DKK 1.5bn
(approx. EUR 200m) share buy-back programme is planned to be initiated shortly
and to be conducted during the period until the disclosure of the interim
financial report for first quarter of 2018 on 4 May 2018. 

"2017 was a year that saw fierce competition, price pressure and the continued
maturity of the wind energy sector. In this environment, Vestas' 2017
performance was strong, as we once again led the industry on profit margins and
produced solid revenue, free cash flow, record order intake, and a growing and
profitable service business. We demonstrated that even in such challenging
conditions, we can control costs and use our global presence and technology
leadership to remain the industry leader," says Anders Runevad, Group President
& CEO. 

*) Before investments in marketable securities and short-term financial
investments, and incl. proceeds of EUR 99m from sale of office building
facilities. 
**) Excl. the acquisition of Utopus Insights, Inc., any investments in
marketable securities, and short-term financial investments. 

Information meeting (audiocast)

On Wednesday, 7 February 2018 at 10 am CET (9 am GMT), Vestas will host an
information meeting via an audiocast. The audiocast will be accessible via
vestas.com/investor. 

The meeting will be held in English and questions may be asked through a
conference call. The telephone numbers for the conference call are: 

Europe:                 [phone]
USA:                       [phone]
Denmark:              [phone]

Further details at vestas.com/en/investor.

Presentation material for the information meeting will be available approx. one
hour before the meeting at vestas.com/en/investor. 

Contact details
Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark

Investors/analysts:
Patrik Setterberg, Vice President
Investor Relations
Tel: [phone]

Media:
Anders Riis
External Communications
Tel: [phone]

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