Wind turbine maker Vestas on Tuesday reported an unexpected operating profit for the first quarter, contrary to analysts' predictions of a loss, and kept its outlook for the year unchanged despite geopolitical uncertainty.
The Danish company reported an operating profit before special items of 14 million euros ($15.8 million) against a year-earlier loss of 68 million. The mean forecast in a poll of analysts compiled by Vestas was for a 29 million euro loss.
"Vestas' performance continued to improve, although new events contributed to further geopolitical uncertainty and regionalisation," its CEO Henrik Andersen said in a statement.
Still, the industry faces numerous challenges, with onshore installations in the key Europe market falling short last year of expectations due to grid bottlenecks, slow permit processes, and more stringent financing conditions stifling growth.
In addition, the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry, regarded as a key growth market, suffers from supply chain issues and inflation, as well as opposition from President Donald Trump's administration.
Vestas maintained its outlook for full-year revenue of between 18 billion and 20 billion euros and an operating profit margin of 4-7%.
"Although ongoing geopolitical and trade volatility is expected to cause uncertainty, the execution of our record-high order backlog is expected to drive increased revenue in 2025," it said in the earnings report.
Vestas reported a 36% rise in its first-quarter order intake of 3,135 megawatts (MW) which was broadly in line with analyst estimates of 3,157 MW.
(Reuters - Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, Editing by Terje Solsvik)