HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The wind turbine manufacturer Nordex expects a further improvement in its results in 2024. The company announced on Thursday at the presentation of its final figures in Hamburg that it expects to generate an operating margin (EBITDA) of 2 to 4 percent of sales. In 2023, Nordex had just made it into the black in its day-to-day business - following an operating loss in the previous year.

Nordex was particularly convincing on the stock market with its free cash inflow. It should also be positive again in 2024, CEO Jose Blanco told the financial news agency dpa-AFX. However, this will not be easy.

The Nordex share, which is listed on the MDax, was up around four and a half percent around midday, continuing the recovery of the past few days at an accelerated pace. However, it is not a real liberating blow: the share has been on a downward trend for quite some time and the value has halved in the past three years. So far this year, the drop amounts to a good three percent.

Last year, Nordex recorded free cash inflows of EUR 20 million, following outflows of over half a billion a year earlier. The improvement was partly due to the reversal of provisions in the fourth quarter and higher advance payments from customers.

As already known, day-to-day business was better last year than in 2022. The Hamburg-based company had already presented preliminary figures two weeks ago, which have now been confirmed. The bottom line was a loss of almost 303 million euros for shareholders, which was 40% lower than in 2022. CEO Blanco described 2023 as a year of transition in which the market environment had stabilized overall, despite some fluctuations.

In the current year, turnover is expected to increase to between 7 and 7.7 billion euros. In the middle of the range, this would be an increase of 13% compared to the previous year. With regard to the operating margin, Group CEO Blanco expects it to improve from quarter to quarter. "In a similar pattern to 2023," said the manager in the interview. Last year, it was 3.4 percent in the final quarter, but zero for the year as a whole. The operating profit amounted to 2 million euros.

In the medium term, Blanco wants to see the ratio at 8 percent. He has defined the years 2025 and 2026 as the timeframe. The prerequisite for this is working through the legacy issues. Wind turbine manufacturers have suffered from massively increased costs in recent years, which they were unable to pass on to customers due to the lack of price clauses, among other things. Nordex aims to have completed most of these projects by the end of the current year.

In the short term, however, there are new problems with the conflict in the Red Sea. Due to the Houthi attacks there, major shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal. Quite a few freighters are taking the longer route around South Africa instead. Some Nordex projects have also been delayed as a result, reported Blanco. "We can't compensate for that either," said the manager. However, the management had taken the situation in the Red Sea into account in the forecast.

"At the moment, we expect the situation in the Red Sea to improve in the second half of the year," said Blanco. By 2025 at the latest, however, Nordex will no longer be affected either way. In ongoing talks with customers and negotiations for new projects, Nordex is already indicating various contract terms, depending on whether the situation eases or not./lew/mis/jha/