German wind turbine maker Nordex beats expectations, says focus now on North America
By Marleen Kaesebier and Paolo Laudani
(Reuters) -German wind turbine maker Nordex, one of the top five suppliers in Europe, beat earnings expectations with its second quarter results on Thursday.
Reporting second quarter core earnings of 65.8 million euros ($71.4 million) that beat LSEG estimates of 60.29 million euros, the manufacturer revised its full-year guidance upwards.
Nordex said it now expects its EBITDA margin to come in at 3% to 4%, in the upper half of its previous guidance.
Jefferies analyst Constantin Hesse said the revision came as "no major surprise," falling in line with consensus, but that it "should continue driving an improvement in credibility" for the company, which saw its sales increase by 25% from the year prior in the first half of 2024.
The German manufacturer said it has now "successfully consolidated its market position in Europe," and will be focusing its efforts on its North America business.
Currently North America accounts for 5.5% of the company´s sales, with 80% coming from Europe.
In June, the company announced it would be resuming production at its Iowa plant in the U.S. and said on Thursday that it plans to ramp up production from the first half of 2025.
With the U.S. elections approaching, green energy stocks slid earlier this month after a win by former president Donald Trump was deemed more likely.
Hesse says that while a Trump victory would raise the question of how much risk the wind energy sector would face, "it could take a couple of years until he manages to change something."
"There would still be some order intake flowing during a period where the Inflation Reduction Act is still supportive to wind," saying he expects sales and subsidies to still support wind energy production until about 2027, potentially 2028.
Shares of the MDAX-listed company were up 2.4% at 0857 GMT.
($1 = 0.9223 euros)
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier and Paolo Laudani; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Toby Chopra)