Nordex SE — Earnings Release 2002

May 27, 2002

News Details

Ad-hoc | 27 May 2002 08:01

Nordex AG english

Nordex AG asserting itself well in a difficult environment Ad-hoc-announcement processed and transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Nordex asserting itself well in a difficult environment Turnover up 47% in the first half Hamburg, May 27, 2002. At the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2001/2002, Nordex is still on track to meeting its target of full-year growth of approx. 30 percent. In the first half of its fiscal year (October 1, 2001 – March 31, 2002), the Company posted a roughly 47 percent increase in turnover to EUR 190 million (previous year: EUR 129 million). Exports in the first half accounted for roughly 32 percent, with this share as high as some 55 percent in the second quarter. Foreign sales already include part of the first two export orders for the top-of-the-range N80. Nordex is currently supplying 25 N80 wind turbines to the Netherlands and Norway for a total price of approx. EUR 62 million. Nordex’s rising export ratio is also partly due to weak market conditions in Germany since January 2002 caused in particular by seasonal effects as well as special conditions relating to the granting of permits, something which has been impacting the German market since the beginning of the year. Thus, it is now necessary for wind farms to be approved pursuant to the German Federal Emission Protection Act. Together with new procedural rules, this change in responsibility has led to delays. Order receipts reflect this general trend in the German market. All in all, Nordex received new orders worth roughly EUR 180 million in the first half (previous year: EUR 226 million). However, experts assume that demand will rebound sharply in Germany in the second half of the year. Nordex additionally expects a continuation of its strong foreign business as it has successfully entered new growth markets in Europe in particular. Thus, in France and the UK it was amongst the market leaders in 2001. Established in 2000, US subsidiary Nordex USA Inc. has been reporting rising demand in North America since the extension of the production tax credits (tax allowance for wind power projects). Earnings are stable, with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) coming to roughly EUR 4.7 million in the first half (previous year: EUR 4.6 million). Earnings in the first half still came under strain from the scheduled start-up losses in connection with the new rotor-blade production facilities. Thanks to the favorable interest income, earnings before tax doubled to roughly EUR 5.9 million (previous year: EUR 2.7 million). Nordex has reconfirmed its full-year guidance for fiscal 2001/2002 and continues to project turnover of approx. EUR 460 million (previous year: EUR 354 million) in tandem with an EBIT margin of 4.9 percent (previous year: 4.0 percent). A contribution to this wider margin will be made by rotor-blade production in second half of the fiscal. Contact: Press and PR officer, Ralf Peters, Bornbarch 2, 22848 Norderstedt, Germany, Tel.: +49 40 500 98 100, Fax: +49 40 500 98 333 end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 27.05.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 587357; ISIN: DE0005873574; Index: Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart 270801 Mai 02