Siemens Gamesa reports 54 percent rise in order intake in second quarter

MADRID (Reuters) - Siemens Gamesa (SGREN.MC), which overtook Vestas (VWS.CO) last year to become the world's No. 1 wind turbine maker, said on Friday its order book remained steady in the second quarter, citing record onshore order intake and stabilising prices.

Most recent rankings by consultancy firms GlobalData and MAKE show Siemens Gamesa claiming the top spot in terms of sold turbine capacity last year, overtaking Danish rival Vestas (VWS.CO) in a race to cater to the competitive wind power sector.

Majority owned by Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE) following a merger of its wind power business with Spain's Gamesa, Siemens Gamesa said second-quarter order intake for its onshore business stood at 2.5 GW, up 54 percent from a year earlier.

Sales in the quarter that ended March 31 fell 29 percent to 2.24 billion euros ($2.68 billion) while second quarter net profit was 35 million euros following a loss of the same magnitude in the first quarter.

Siemens Gamesa in February unveiled 2 billion euros in cost cuts by 2020 to close a margin gap with Vestas. Both companies face margin pressure as governments cut support for renewables to force them into competition with conventional energy sources.

Siemens Gamesa, which also numbers Spanish energy group Iberdrola (IBE.MC) among its key shareholders, said its performance in the second quarter and first half of 2018 was fully in line with its guidance for the year.

($1 = 0.8347 euros)

(Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Stine Jacobsen and Adrian Croft)