Wärtsilä Report Steady Development in First Half 2012
Wärtsilä report steady business progress in its interim report for the period January to June 2012
Extracts from the company's report follow:
The second quarter marked steady progress for Wärtsilä. Our net sales grew by 6% and our profitability was 10.3%. We continue to work towards reaching our growth and profitability targets this year. I am pleased with the good development within Ship Power’s specialised vessel segments, which compensated for Power Plants’ slightly weaker second quarter order intake. Ship Power also received interesting pump, gas and environmental system orders. Services development remained rather steady, despite the tough market conditions in the merchant vessel markets.
Highlights of the review period January to June 2012
- Order intake increased 7% to EUR 2,308 million (2,149)
- Net sales decreased 1% to EUR 2,104 million (2,119)
- Operating result EUR 215 million, or 10.2% of net sales (EUR 230 million and 10.9%)
- At the end of the period the order book totalled EUR 4,515 million (3,779), +19%
- Earnings per share amounted to 0.72 euro (0.73)
- Cash flow from operating activities EUR -154 million (84)
The outlook for overall vessel contracting activity during 2012 is slightly negative, with full year contracting expected to be somewhat lower than contracting during 2011.
The decrease is largely driven by the low contracting levels in traditional merchant segments. Robust contracting activity, in line with activity levels seen during 2011 and so far in 2012, is expected for the offshore, gas carrier, and other specialised vessel markets.
Interesting opportunities are seen in the following areas: efficiency improvement, gas as a fuel, and environmental solutions. These are now central issues in many newbuilding discussions and are expected to grow in importance going forward.
Wärtsilä expects its net sales for 2012 to grow by 5-10% and its operational profitability (EBIT% before non-recurring items) to be 10-11%.