In the third quarter of 2013, Vestas generated revenue of € 1,442 million, a decrease of 27 per cent to the year-earlier period. Despite the decrease in revenue, EBIT before special items increased by € 54 million to € 67 million due to the lower fixed cost base and improved project margins.
The EBIT margin before special items was 4.6 per cent and the free cash flow increased by € 198 million to € 56 million compared to the third quarter of 2012. The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders was 1,547MW in the third quarter of 2013. The value of the wind turbine backlog amounted to € 7.3 billion at 30 September 2013. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with contractual future revenue of € 6.1 billion at the end of September 2013. The value of the combined backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements stood at € 13.4 billion, an improvement of € 400 million during the quarter. During the third quarter, Vestas and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. have agreed to form a joint venture dedicated to offshore wind energy. In order to increase the flexibility of Vestas’ supply chain, Vestas has divested its machining and casting units to the German industry group VTC Partners GmbH. The divestment led to write downs of € 50 million which constitutes the majority of the third-quarter special items of € 64 million. Vestas upgrades the 2013 outlook on EBIT margin before special items from minimum 1 per cent to minimum 2 per cent and free cash flow is upgraded from minimum € 200 million to € 500-700 million.
