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Danish wind energy giant Vestas makes loss for first time in a decade

Danish wind turbine producer Vestas has registered a loss for the first time since 2013, the company said as it published annual results.

Danish wind energy giant Vestas makes loss for first time in a decade
Vestas registered a loss last year for the first time since 2013. File photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

The company said that increasing costs of energy and raw materials had contributed to the operating loss, as had high inflation.

“Vestas and the wind industry were ready to provide solutions to address the energy crisis, but were constrained by cost increases, logistical challenges, outdated market designs and permitting processes”, the company said in its annual report.

The annual results show a deficit of just under 12 billion kroner for the year.

Preliminary figures released at the end of last month showed that Vestas had turned over around 108 billion kroner in 2022. As such, costs have dragged the company into an overall loss for the year.

Vestas has been forced to raise the price of its wind turbines to adapt to market conditions, it said.

“The increasing price of wind turbines has been and remains a necessity to account for inflation on operating costs and secure the long-term value creation of the industry,” the company said when it announced its 2022 turnover.

“Our focus to protect the value of our products and solutions needs strict discipline to address the raised costs of raw materials and components in dialogue with customers,” it said.

A reduced level of activity is expected at the company in 2023, while pressure from inflation will still be high. That could have an additional negative impact on profit.

Turnover is predicted to be between 104 and 115 billion kroner in 2023.

A degree of uncertainty must however be attached to that prognosis, Vestas stressed.

“The announced expectations try to take account of the situation and challenges as they appear at this point in time,” it said in the results released on Wednesday.

Vestas’ share price was up 2.7 percent on the Copenhagen stock exchange in mid-morning trading, in a market up by 0.8 percent overall.

The wind turbine maker employs around 29,000 people globally including 5,900 in Denmark.

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BUSINESS

Danish meat producer to close major factory and scrap 1,200 jobs

Denmark’s biggest company in one of its largest industries, meat producer Danish Crown has announced the closure of its factory in Zealand town Ringsted, meaning 1,200 jobs will be lost.

Danish meat producer to close major factory and scrap 1,200 jobs

The company announced the closure of its Ringsted factory in a statement on Monday in which it also said workers whose roles will be scrapped will be offered training or positions at Danish Crown sites elsewhere in the country.

The closure of the Ringsted factory, scheduled for September, will mean that 1,200 jobs at that plant will cease to exist. Restructuring by the company will give 300 new jobs at Danish Crown factories in Jutland towns Horsens, Herning, Vejen and Sønderborg.

Danish Crown CEO Jais Valeur told newswire Ritzau that the company had taken a “heavy decision” to close the Ringsted factory.

“We have attempted to get ahead of the curve by taking a drastic step and not just adapting capacity to what we are seeing here and now but looking forwards and seeing that what is needed purely in terms of overheads is to close Ringsted,” he said.

The decision means the company will be able to avoid similar “adaptations” in future, he said.

The company said that the decision is a consequence of the decline in the number of pigs slaughtered in the last two years, reducing the efficiency of its existing facilities in Denmark.

Future business models will increase focus on export of products such as bacon and pepperoni within Europe, Valeur said.

Pork production in Denmark fell by 17 percent between 2021 and 2023, according to Danish Crown’s accounts.

This decrease has meant that slaughtering capacity at the company has been too large.

“There is greatly increased competition from China and the USA, so we are now focusing much more on the European market where we can see that there is demand for Danish bacon and pepperoni,” Valeur said.

The company said it expects to have enough jobs for employees who are willing to relocate to one of the group’s four Jutland plants.

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