In the first quarter of 2017, prior to the merger with Siemens Wind Power, Gamesa obtained €100 million net profit, 39% more than in the year-ago quarter. The figures do not include the merger with Siemens Wind Power, which was completed on 3 April. Revenues increased by 45% in the first quarter to €1,546 million as a result of strong growth in wind turbine manufacturing and sales and in the contribution by services.
In the first quarter, the wind turbine business increased revenues by 48% to €1,412 million as a result of 40.5% growth in activity volume to 1,490 MW. The countries that contributed most to turbine sales growth were India and the USA. America contributed 48%, Asia 40%, and EMEA (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) 11%. Operation and maintenance revenues regained the pace of growth in the period, increasing by 25% to €134 million. Commercial activity in the first quarter resulted in firm orders for 827MW, bringing last twelve months order intake to 4.5GW and covering 74% of the volume guidance for 2017: close to 5,000MW. In this context of growing activity, Gamesa obtained €181 million in underlying EBIT (+53%), i.e. an EBIT margin of 11.7%. That figure does not include €8 million in merger costs. With the merger completed, the executive team's primary objective is to advance with the integration, which is already under way, in order to design the group's strategy and draw up a business plan, expected in the second half of the year.
