Wind power rotor blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber (Lunderskov / Denmark; www.lmglasfiber.com) has reported an operating loss (EBIT) of DKK 297m (EUR 39.8m) for 2007, compared with an operating profit of DKK 401m in 2006. The company said that the loss was due mainly to operating and logistics costs resulting from delays in its capacity expansion programme in its Spanish operations, which has now been completed. Sales in 2007 were DKK 4.3 bn (EUR 577m), an increase of 22% on 2006, driven by strong growth in wind energy markets, increased capacity from new facilities and improvements in manufacturing output.

In terms of MW, sales rose to a record 4,950MW from 4,100MW in 2006. All of the company’s geographical segments contributed to the sales increase with the North American and Chinese markets showing especially strong growth. The company invested DKK 582m in 2007, almost double the level of 2006, primarily in new facilities in China, India and Spain and additional capacity increases in North America and Spain. At the end of 2007, the company had its largest ever backlog of orders, at DKK 18 bn.

Roland Sundén, CEO, said: “2007 was a year of great transformation in the face of difficult growth challenges for LM Glasfiber. Despite the tangible progress we achieved in 2007, we acknowledge that our results fell short of our expectations. This was mainly due to delays in the capacity expansion programme in our Spanish operations, resulting in excessive operating and logistics costs.”

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LM Glasfiber annual report as a PDF document (1,725 KB)