Vestas Wind Systems A/S on Aug. 15 reported profit of €90 million, or 45 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2019, a drop from €184 million, or 92 cents per share, in the comparable quarter of 2018.
Revenue for the quarter totaled €2.12 billion, down from €2.26 billion a year ago. The company's EBIT also fell year over year to €128 million from €259 million, due to decline in gross margin and higher capacity costs.
"Prices remained stable in the quarter, but further increases in tariffs, raw material prices and transport costs, continue to increase execution costs, causing our gross margin to decline compared to the same period last year," said Group President and CEO Henrik Andersen.
The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders amounted to 5,696 MW in the most recent quarter, compared with 3,807 MW in the same period in 2018. Deliveries also improved year over year to 2,069 MW from 1,971 MW.
The value of the company's wind turbine order backlog amounted to €15.9 billion as of June 30.
As a result of its performance, Vestas narrowed its 2019 guidance on revenue to between €11.0 billion and €12.25 billion, from €10.75 billion to €12.25 billion. Total investments are expected to amount to approximately €800 million.
