In the second quarter of 2020, Vestas generated revenue of EUR 3,541m – an increase of 67 percent compared to the year-earlier period. EBIT before special items decreased by EUR 94m to EUR 34m. This resulted in an EBIT margin before special items of 1.0 percent, compared to 6.0 percent in the second quarter of 2019.
The decrease was primarily a result of extraordinary warranty provisions made in the quarter of EUR 175m, covering a specific repair and upgrade of a confined number of blades already installed; excluding these provisions, the underlying margin was 5.9 percent.
The quarterly intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders amounted to 4,148 MW. The value of the wind turbine order backlog was EUR 16.2bn as at 30 June 2020. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, at the end of June 2020, Vestas had service agreements with expected contractual future revenue of EUR 18.9bn. Thus, the value of the combined backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements stood at EUR 35.1bn – an increase of EUR 3.6bn compared to the year-earlier period.
Based on the results for first half of 2020, Vestas now provides the market with new guidance. The outlook for full-year revenue is unchanged at EUR 14-15bn. The EBIT margin before special items is updated to range between 5 and 7 percent (initially 7-9 percent), including extraordinary warranty provisions of EUR 175m. Vestas’ total investments*) are expected to be below EUR 700m in 2020 (initially approx. EUR 700m). This guidance, it should be emphasised, is based on assumptions that are subject to greater uncertainty than under normal circumstances, due to COVID-19.
