Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has reported a steep decline in operating profit for the year 2022, recording a loss of almost €1.2bn compared with a €428m gain the previous year.

The drop in profit is attributed to "unforeseen geo-political uncertainty, high inflation and supply chain constraints" the company has stated.

Despite the difficult business environment, Vestas stated that it achieved €14.5bn in revenue, 13.3GW of deliveries and an order intake of 11.2GW.

Fully focused on profitability

Vestas group president and CEO Henrik Andersen acknowledged the challenges faced by the company in 2022 and stated that everyone at Vestas is fully focused on returning to profitability in 2023.

He also emphasised the need to continue building industry maturity and commercial discipline to build a sustainable, scalable and profitable wind industry.

Andersen also noted that the company's service business recorded a 27% increase in service revenue to €3.1bn, while its offshore division secured more than 5GW of preferred supplier agreements for its V236-15.0MW turbine.

2023 impact

Despite the challenges faced by the company, Vestas expects high inflation levels throughout the supply chain and reduced wind power installations to negatively impact revenue and profitability in 2023.

The directors said increasing prices on its order intake is an offsetting factor, but still leaves the company’s profitability challenged.