Sales of wind turbines grow by 16 percent to 4.5 billion euros in the first nine months of 2023. The EBITDA margin improves to 2.8 percent in the third quarter and reaches -1.5 percent in the first nine months. Installations increase to 2.4 gigawatts in the third quarter. The order book exceeds 10,000 million euros.
Nordex (ISIN: DE000A0D6554) achieved sales in the third quarter of 1.7 billion euros. Based on the last nine months of fiscal 2023, sales increased by 16 percent to €4.5 billion (9M/2022: €3.9 billion). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved in the third quarter to €48 million (Q3/2022: minus €27 million) and rose to minus €67 million in the first nine months of 2023 (9M/2022). : minus 200 million euros). Consequently, the EBITDA margin corresponds to minus 1.5 percent (9M/2022: minus 5.2 percent).
Operational performance
In the first three quarters of 2023, order intake in the Projects segment came to 4.9 GW (9M 2022: 4.4 GW); this corresponds to a value of EUR 4.1 billion (9M 2022: EUR 3.6 billion). The average selling price (ASP) per megawatt of output was 0.79 million EUR/MW in the third quarter and is influenced by the regional mix. Of the new orders, 63 percent were attributable to Europe, 25 percent to Latin America and 12 percent to North America. By the end of September 2023, the Nordex Group had an order book of nearly EUR 10.2 billion (9M 2022: EUR 9.7 billion). Of this, EUR 6.7 billion (9M 2022: EUR 6.5 billion) relates to the Projects segment and EUR 3.6 billion (9M 2022: EUR 3.1 billion) to the Service segment.
The Nordex Group slightly increased its production output of turbines, expanding it from 4.9 GW in the previous year to 5.0 GW. The total manufacturing output of rotor blades remained unchanged at a total of 3,358 units (9M 2022: 3,357 blades) of which the company produced 802 blades in its own plants (9M 2022: 879 blades) and sourced 2,556 blades by external suppliers (9M/2022: 2,478 blades).
In the first nine months of 2023, the Nordex Group installed a total of 1,090 wind turbines in 24 countries with a total output of 5.5 GW (9M/2022: 791 wind turbines in 17 countries with a total output of 3.6 GW). Europe accounted for 61 percent of installations, Latin America for 25 percent and North America and the Rest of the World for 7 percent each. These installations generated EUR 4.0 billion in sales for the Projects segment during the reporting period (9M 2022: EUR 3.5 billion). Sales in the Service segment amounted to EUR 482 million as of the end of September (9M 2022: EUR 398 million).
Key financial figures at a glance
Total assets rose to EUR 5.0 billion as of 30 September 2023 from EUR 4.8 billion at the end of 2022. The equity ratio was 18.8 percent as of 30 September 2023 (31 December 2022: 18.5 percent). The net cash amounted to EUR 344 million (31 December 2022: EUR 244 million). The working capital ratio as a percentage of consolidated sales was stable at minus 10.2 percent (31 December 2022: minus 10.2 percent).
José Luis Blanco, CEO of Nordex SE, said: “The third quarter was marked by a high installation level for the Nordex Group. As a result, we achieved an improvement in our sales and earnings as higher-margin projects were completed. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we also expect a high level of intensity with some short-term challenges emerging which can result in increased volatility in project execution. Therefore, delivering according to plan is important to further increase our profitability.”
The complete interim report for the period ended 30 September 2023 is now available on the Nordex Group’s website in the Investor Relations section under “Publications” (ir.nordex-online.com). The Group interim management report and the condensed interim consolidated financial statements were not reviewed by an auditor.
Nordex Group key financials
| (In EUR million) | 30.9.2023 | 30.9.2022 | Change (%) |
| Sales | 4,477 | 3,873 | 15.6 |
| thereof Service segment | 482 | 398 | 21.3 |
| Gross revenue | 4,424 | 3,892 | 13.6 |
| EBITDA | -66.6 | -199.8 | 66.7 |
| EBITDA margin | -1.5% | -5.2% | 3.7 PP |
| EBIT margin (adjusted for PPA) | -4.5% | -8.4% | 3.9 PP |
| Consolidated net profit/loss | -334 | -372 | 10.2 |
| Capital expenditure | 83.0 | 124.6 | -33.4 |
| Free cash flow | -283.4 | -458.0 | 38.1 |
| Working capital ratio (31.12.) | -10.2% | -10.2% | 0.0 PP |
| Liquidity (31.12.) | 642 | 634 | 1.4 |
| Net cash (31.12.) | 344 | 244 | 40.9 |
| Equity ratio (31.12.) | 18.8% | 18.5% | 0.3 PP |
| Order intake (Projects) | 4,143 | 3,647 | 13.6 |
| Order intake (Service) | 742 | 471 | 57.6 |
| Order book (Projects) | 6,655 | 6,523 | 2.0 |
| Order book (Service) | 3,594 | 3,144 | 14.3 |
