Vestas posts unexpected profits in the first quarter

The world's second largest maker of wind turbines, Denmark's Vestas Wind, announced today modest profits in the first quarter with growing US orders, after posting losses a year ago.
Between January and March, net profit amounted to two million euros (USD 2.76 million), compared to net losses of 151 million euros a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting a 20-million-euro loss.
The company has seen orders grow by 84 per cent compared to a year ago, mostly thanks to the US market.
"As we expected, first quarter showed improvements in all major areas," chief executive Anders Runevad said in a statement.

"This is a result of a lot of hard work from my colleagues and we remain focused on executing on our strategy."

Revenue was up by 17 per cent to 1.283 billion euros.
Vestas said that, in order to remain in the black, it would "leverage on its strong position in mature markets such as Europe and North America", while reducing costs and expenditures in these regions.
The company also wants to improve its competitiveness in the Chinese and Indian markets.
Vestas kept its 2014 outlook unchanged, with an expected operating margin of five per cent before special items.