Some see it as even the sign of a rebound

Vestas blows hot and cold. The world's leading wind energy yesterday announced the removal of 1.900 posts in Europe, or 9 of its global workforce, with 70 of its net income in the first quarter. With the slowdown which threatens, the Danish group will remove about 1,300 jobs in the Denmark and 600 in the United Kingdom. A break with the euphoria of recent years: between 2005 and 2008, the company had hired 10,000 people. But "we believe more that the application will be sufficient in the short term markets in Northern Europe," explained yesterday the boss of the group, Ditlev Engel, citing overcapacity on the Continent.

The company, claiming 20 share of market with up to 38,000 turbines installed in the world, suffers the aftermath of the financial crisis. Like its Spanish competitor Gamesa, she found that many customers are no longer the necessary financing. "In addition, some banks that were compelling in the market for wind energy, are more active", says the group. And, if new banking stakeholders are emerging, projects are more long and complicated to finance. Other players in the sector have already reduced the wing. This is the case of LM Glasfiber, Danish wind turbine blade manufacturer, announced nearly 1,000 deletions of posts since the beginning of the year. According to Bloomberg, the Danish subsidiary of Siemens also removed 400 positions in February.

Despite the restructuring, the sector is not affected. There is especially a rebalancing. As LM Glasfiber, Vestas has just opened a factory in China, and he wants to grow in the United States.

"In the last six months, wind industry has suffered a crisis of the credit, step of a crisis of demand," insists Ditlev Engel, who welcomed the announcements of the American President, Barack Obama, for renewable energy. In the first quarter, Vestas has recorded an increase in orders from 6.7 to 4.9 billion. Its sales jumped 58 to EUR 1.1 billion, for a profit of 56 million.

In this context, the group maintains its Outlook for 2009, with an included operating margin of 11 to 13 and a turnover of EUR 7.2 billion. "Significant contracts will be signed in the coming months," says the group without more detail. Optimistic, he even announced yesterday a future issue of new shares representing 10 of its capital. The goal: take advantage of potential opportunities of growth... The maintenance of the Outlook has restored the balm to the heart of the financial analysts who feared more negative news. Some see it as even the sign of a rebound. "Competitors like General Electric, Nordex or Siemens have recently made forecasts clearly indicate a recovery from our estimates on the market of the wind," noted analysts from Dresdner Bank, highlighting the optimism of professionals at the Hanover fair this month.

Another positive factor in the eyes of investors: wind energy equipment manufacturers seem determined to maintain their margins, despite the trend towards a decline in prices. They play on their wage costs, as shown in the deletions of posts announced yesterday by Vestas. They can also count on the fall of prices of raw materials as steel accounting for 25 off labour costs.