Wärtsilä’s Interim Report January–September 2021
This release is a summary of Wärtsilä’s Interim Report January–September 2021. The complete report is attached to this release as a pdf file. It is also available on the company website at www.wartsila.com.
While market conditions remain uncertain, we expect the demand environment for our offering in the fourth quarter to be considerably better than that of the corresponding period in the previous year.
“During the third quarter of 2021, stabilisation and recovery continued in both our end markets.
In the energy markets, the demand for energy storage solutions continued at a strong level, highlighted by an order of more than EUR 100 million for a 250 MW / 250 MWh system that we received from AGL in Australia. Nevertheless, the pandemic continued to slow down investments in new power plant capacity, especially in the emerging markets.
In the marine markets, vessel ordering activity improved, largely driven by containership orders. The activity in our key vessel segments remained relatively low. In particular, the important cruise industry is still heavily affected by covid-19. The demand for services, on the other hand, has developed positively across all vessel segments. The reactivation of cruise and ferry fleets continued in the third quarter, and the active cruise fleet capacity increased from around 20% at the end of June to around 50% at the end of September, which supports our service business going forward.
Overall, order intake grew by 21% from a low level in the corresponding period in 2020, supported by all our core businesses. The demand for services remained solid across customer segments, resulting in a 14% growth in service order intake. Net sales increased by 11%, driven by a 20% growth in service sales. Furthermore, profitability continued to improve. The comparable operating result increased by 43%, driven by higher sales volumes and a more favourable sales mix between equipment and services. We saw good progress especially in the Energy and Marine Power businesses. Marine Systems’ result continued to be burdened by low scrubber volumes.
To further enhance the adoption of carbon-free fuels, Wärtsilä signed a joint development programme agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries aimed at developing ammonia-fuelled vessels with 4-stroke auxiliary engines. I am pleased to see that our strong long-term focus on R&D is producing tangible solutions to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
While market conditions remain uncertain, we expect the demand environment for our offering in the fourth quarter to be considerably better than that of the corresponding period in the previous year. In the longer term, we see the decarbonisation transformation taking place in both the marine and energy industries to offer exciting opportunities.
Today, we announced our future commitment to ambitious climate targets. Our goal is by 2030 to become carbon neutral in our own operations and to provide a product portfolio which will be ready for zero carbon fuels. These new targets demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future. Our aim is to support our customers on their decarbonisation journey and thus shape the decarbonisation of the marine and energy sectors. Our products, solutions, and services will meet the stringent environmental requirements, and the fuel flexibility and fuel efficiency of the engines powering these sectors are key to enabling the transformation. Naturally, we also need to do our part as an organisation and minimise our own environmental footprint.
Ahead of COP26 climate conference, Wärtsilä issued a Front Loading Net Zero report on how regions across the world can transition to renewable energy and decarbonise before 2050, while saving billions of euros in energy production costs. Our report is aimed to act as a wake-up call for global leaders, as this is our last and best chance to point countries towards the pathways leading to carbon neutrality and meeting the Paris agreement. Our modelling shows that it is viable for energy systems to be fully decarbonised before 2050. But to do so, it is vital that leaders and power producers come together now to make the necessary decisions."
KEY FIGURES
| MEUR | 7–9/ 2021 |
7–9/ 2020 |
Change | 1–9/ 2021 |
1–9/ 2020 |
Change | 2020 |
| Order intake | 1,186 | 981 | 21% | 3,584 | 3,240 | 11% | 4,359 |
| of which services | 595 | 521 | 14% | 1,903 | 1,641 | 16% | 2,267 |
| Order book, end of period | 5,325 | 5,265 | 1% | 5,057 | |||
| Net sales | 1,103 | 995 | 11% | 3,181 | 3,385 | -6% | 4,604 |
| of which services | 598 | 499 | 20% | 1,738 | 1,602 | 9% | 2,255 |
| Book-to-bill | 1.07 | 0.99 | 1.13 | 0.96 | 0.95 | ||
| Operating result | 75 | 43 | 77% | 170 | 144 | 18% | 234 |
| % of net sales | 6.8 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 5.1 | ||
| Comparable operating result | 87 | 61 | 43% | 199 | 172 | 16% | 275 |
| % of net sales | 7.9 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 6.0 | ||
| Comparable adjusted EBITA* | 95 | 69 | 37% | 223 | 197 | 13% | 308 |
| % of net sales | 8.6 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 6.7 | ||
| Profit before taxes | 74 | 34 | 120% | 162 | 113 | 44% | 191 |
| Basic earnings/share, EUR | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.19 | 0.13 | 0.23 | ||
| Cash flow from operating activities | 49 | 114 | 360 | 407 | 681 | ||
| Net interest-bearing debt, end of period | 309 | 678 | 394 | ||||
| Gross capital expenditure | 98 | 79 | 117 | ||||
| Gearing | 0.14 | 0.33 | 0.18 | ||||
| Solvency, % | 39.3 | 36.0 | 38.1 | ||||
| Personnel, end of period | 17,303 | 18,183 | -5% | 17,792 |
*Comparable adjusted EBITA excludes items affecting comparability and purchase price allocation amortisation.
Wärtsilä presents certain alternative performance measures in accordance with the guidance issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The definitions of these alternative performance measures are presented in the Calculations of financial ratios section.
ANALYST AND PRESS CONFERENCE
A virtual analyst and press conference will be held as a webinar today, Tuesday 26 October 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Finnish time (8:00 a.m. UK time).
If you only wish to view the stream, please register at: http://www.mediaserver.fi/live/wartsila.
If you plan to view the stream and ask questions in the Q&A session, please register at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1791240099886772495.
Please register using only one of the links above, not both. Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email that includes specific joining instructions.
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Please note that there will be no separate audio (phone) line for the event. The Q&A session will use the audio in the GoToWebinar tool itself. In case you are joining via mobile, you may need to install the free GoToWebinar app from the app store.
To enter into the questions and answers queue, please use the raise your hand function in the webinar platform and unmute your microphone when the moderator announces your name. Please remember to lower your hand once your question has been answered.
For more information on joining and setting up your audio for Q&A, you may visit the official GoToWebinar attendee joining guide at: https://support.goto.com/webinar/how-to-join-attendees. Instructions on Q&A related functionalities can be found at: https://support.logmeininc.com/gotowebinar/help/raise-your-hand.
A recording of the webcast will be available on the company website as soon as possible after the event.
For further information, please contact:
Arjen Berends
Executive Vice President & CFO
Tel. +358 10 709 5444
arjen.berends@wartsila.com
Hanna-Maria Heikkinen
Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel. +358 10 709 1461
hanna-maria.heikkinen@wartsila.com
For press information, please contact:
Atte Palomäki
Executive Vice President, Communications, Branding & Marketing
Tel: +358 10 709 5599
atte.palomaki@wartsila.com
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2020, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
Interim report January-September 2021
