October 30, 2010
Suzlon Group Q2: Strong orderbook and improving performance
- Group orderbook at US$ 5.4 bn.
- Group revenues of ` 3,772 cr. (~US$ 847 mn.)
- Positive EBITDA of ` 148 cr. (~US$ 33 mn.); EBITDA margin improves to 3.93 per cent
- Positive EBIT of ` 11 cr.
- Net debt equity ratio reduced to 1.48
- Net working capital continues to reduce
Mumbai: Suzlon Group, the worlds third largest* wind turbine supplier, reported its
earnings today, for the quarter ended September 30th, 2010.
Mr. Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director Suzlon Group, said: The wind
industry has undergone a major transformation over the past two years. While many
mature markets face near stagnant conditions compounded by policy hurdles new and
emerging markets are increasingly driving growth for the sector. I am happy to report that
we are well positioned in both the emerging and offshore markets our strategy to focus on
these markets has proven to be sound and is now beginning to deliver. That said, we
remain committed to the mature markets and note the many industry reports which
forecast a recovery in these geographies in 2011/2012.
This has been a progressive quarter for us. Our Group orderbook has grown to US$ 5.4
billion, with particularly strong contributions from REpower and our India business. This
gives us confidence about the remainder of the year and beyond. We have expanded our
business into South Africa and established new R&D centers in Germany and announced
plans to open one in China. We continue to maintain an aggressive focus on driving sales
and improving performance at every level.
We believe that innovation and new products, along with our low cost manufacturing base
and low cost structure, allows us to ride out the challenging market environment.
Mr. Robin Banerjee, Chief Financial Officer Suzlon Energy Limited, said: A
comparison with previous quarters shows that our financial situation is markedly improved.
We have delivered a positive EBITDA of ` 148 crore, and our improvement continues across
the board. We are working very hard to keep our costs in check and improve our margins
and we are making solid progress in this endeavor. Our sales performance is on track,
working capital as percentage of sales is reduced, our Opex costs are down and we continue
to optimize all these areas.
Key Updates
Orderbook:
The Suzlon Wind orderbook stood at 1,550 megawatts (MW) (` 8,285 crore, US$
1.85 billion), with 693 MW in domestic orders and 857 MW in international orders
as on September 30th, 2010.
The REpower orderbook stood at EUR 2.58 billion compared to EUR 1.6 billion at
the previous years record date, marking an increase of 61.3 per cent; increasing
the order backlog from 1,307 MW to 2,254 MW.
REpower performance: While turnover for the quarter decreased from EUR 308.9
million to EUR 285.9 million compared to the corresponding quarter, EBIT increased
to EUR 32.8 million from EUR 20.6 million.
Debt: The net debt-equity ratio reduced to 1.48 post the Rights Issue, down from
1.97 as on June 30th, 2010.
New product: REpower launched the MM100 turbine, which has been developed for
the North American wind market and will be available in a 60 Hertz (Hz) version with
an 80-meter tower height, 100-meter rotor diameter, and rated power of 1.8 MW.
The MM100 is intended for use in regions with low wind speeds, where it delivers
higher energy output from its increased rotor diameter.
Research and Development:
o Suzlon inaugurated a new technology centre in Rostock, Germany, and announced
plans to build an R&D facility in Tianjin, China.
o REpower inaugurated a new technology center on the Kiel Canal, Germany. The
technology centre is equipped to remotely monitor REpowers global fleet of more
than 2,500 turbines.
Board updates: Under the terms of the refinancing agreement with lenders, Mrs.
Mythili Balasubramanian, Chief General Manager and Head Syndication and
Advisory, IDBI Bank Limited will join as Nominee Director on the Board of the
Company effective November 1st 2010.
Also effective November 1st 2010, Mr. Vinod R. Tanti is appointed an Executive
Director on the Board of the Company.
New appointment: Mr. Silas Zimu was appointed as the CEO of Suzlons new South
African operations. He was previously the Managing Director of City Power, a leading
South African power utility.
South Africa offers strong demand for new power generation capacity, and has an
estimated wind potentiality of approximately 184 terawatt-hours (TWh). Suzlon is
currently in the tendering process for more than 800 MW of new projects.
