COPENHAGEN, March 29 (Reuters) – The newly-elected chairman
of Vestas said on Thursday he was confident the Danish
wind turbine manufacturer had the right management to turn round
its fortunes after two profit warnings in little over three
months.
The warnings, at the end of October and again in early
January, have piled pressure on Chief Executive Ditlev Engel to
tackle rising costs and ensure there are no more
disappointments.
In January, Vestas announced a major management reshuffle as
well as plans to cut 2,335 jobs in a bid to restore
profitability after higher costs wiped out 2010 earnings.
“The most important thing is to implement and have a year of
execution of the plans,” incoming chairman Bert Nordberg told
Reuters in a telephone interview.
“What I have seen, this is definitely a good plan, but a
plan is a plan, reality is when it is executed,” Nordberg said.
“I support the current management and I think they can get it
done.”
Nordberg said Engel had his and the board’s support.
Vestas has struggled in the financial crisis, which has hit
investment in energy projects around the globe, and cost
overruns at the end of 2010 knocked it to a loss for last year
which was even weaker than a preliminary result announced just a
few weeks before final accounts in February.
Nordberg, who joined from Sony’s mobile phone arm,
said Vestas was still in the process of recruiting a new chief
financial officer to replace Henrik Norremark whose move from
the CFO job was announced in January and who resigned in
February after he was held responsible for the profit warnings.
Nordberg, who is known as a restructurer, said he has met
Engel a number of times and had many discussions about the plans
for the company and their views were “aligned in many ways.”
“It is of utmost importance that we restore confidence in
the external market towards what we guide and how we deliver
compared to the guidance,” Nordberg said. “That is a big
priority for me to make sure that happens.”
“Sometimes you have to restructure a company to get back to
profitability,” said Nordberg.
“We will have a big strategy session at the end of April
with the board,” he said, adding it was premature for him to
talk more about strategic matters for Vestas.
He said he did not consider being chairman of Vestas to be a
full-time job, but that it would be an “every week job.”
Nordberg declined to comment on recent media reports that
French engineering group Alstom was looking to acquire wind
turbine makers, possibly Vestas.
“Vestas is a very important part of Danish industry and I
personally think it should remain a Danish company,” he said.
Asked if it was possible to ensure that Vestas remains
Danish, Nordberg said: “Of course, but let’s talk about that
when I have been here a few months.”
Nordberg said he would visit the United States soon to learn
more about the situation in the U.S. wind power market.
“Energy consumption in the world is growing, and we cannot
continue polluting the air, and it seems like nuclear power has
had its best days so obviously there is a growth opportunity for
wind power,” he said.
“And I think it is the responsibility of many politicians in
the world to make sure that gets implemented,” Nordberg added.
(Reporting by John Acher; Editing by Mark Potter)
