(Wiesbaden, 18th May 2016) This year has so far been the most successful one in ABO Wind’s 20 year-long history: the ABO Wind group has generated a net profit of EUR 7.8 million and managed to increase last year’s earnings (EUR 5.3 million) by nearly 50 percent.
One year before the conditions for planning wind farms in Germany will fundamentally change, the company performs excellently. “We are well prepared for facing the new conditions of the tendering procedure which will be implemented in 2017,” says Matthias Bockholt, CEO and co-founder of ABO Wind. “We are thrilled to be able to present such good annual results in our anniversary year”.
The overall performance (turnover and inventory change) of EUR 101.1 million (compared to EUR 107.6 million in the previous year) exceeded the threshold of EUR 100 million for the second time. Currently, ABO Wind is developing wind farms in six European countries as well as in Argentina and the Republic of Iran. Roughly 70 percent of the turnover was generated in its home market Germany. The other roughly 30 percent was generated in France (20 percent) and Finland (10 percent). In 2014 the subsidiary ABO Wind Oy had opened an office in the capital Helsinki and in 2015 the first Finnish wind farm was connected to the grid. The second wind farm Silovuori is presently under construction. Further projects have been approved but are on hold until Finnish legislators have decided on a new national support scheme.
The financial year 2016 has also started out very well: 175 megawatts of nominal capacity are currently under construction. “We are awaiting further projects in Germany, France and Finland to be ready for construction soon – if all goes well then also in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland,” so CEO Bockholt. Overall he expects the company’s 2016 performance to be as good as in 2015.
At present, 356 permanent employees work for ABO Wind (last year: 305) –250 of which are located in Germany. 150 employees work in the head office in Wiesbaden, 80 in Heidesheim near Mainz and the rest works in smaller offices in Berlin, Hannover, Nuremberg, Rheine and Saarbrücken.
For about a year, a group of experienced project planners and financers has been monitoring countries where ABO Wind might expand to. First concrete results of those activities can be reported from the Republic of Iran. In 2016, ABO Wind established an office in Teheran and has already made cooperation agreements with regional partners. “Iran has ambitious goals for developing renewable energies. The country offers good perspectives, especially after the international sanctions have been lifted,” says CEO Bockholt.
ABO Wind has been active in Argentina for a number of years. For a long time, prospects for successfully implementing wind farms were poor due to insufficient financing possibilities. The new government elected in 2015 has now reached an agreement with creditors. Hence, the country has managed its comeback to the international financial markets. This has also impacted the wind market – since spring 2016, the interest in wind projects has risen. Within a few months, ABO Wind has received payments of a few hundred thousand euros in reservation of wind projects. Chances have improved that ABO Wind might build wind farms in Argentina in the near future.
Besides project development, ABO Wind also expands the technical service for wind farms in operation to an important business segment. In 2015, the company generated EUR 5.6 million from operational management and service (previous year: EUR 4.6 million). CEO Bockholt emphasizes that “there is even further potential for growth, not only on the German market but also on our foreign markets”. In September, ABO Wind will participate in the international trade fair ‘WindEnergy’ in Hamburg for the first time in order to present new service products currently being developed by the company. With special services such as the safety test “DGUV-V3” (formerly known as “BGV A3”) ABO Wind is already among the market leaders. As an experienced wind energy specialist who is independent from manufacturers, ABO Wind is in a good position for increasing its market share on the service market. In the following years, the company also expects further growth in its core business segment, project development of wind energy. In 2015, ABO Wind has secured sites for a total capacity of 600 megawatts and thus laid the foundation for further success in the coming years.
At the annual general meeting on June 30th, the managing board will suggest to the shareholders to pay EUR 0.25 dividend per share (previous year: EUR 0.22). Based on the price of EUR 5.50 per share, the dividend yield is now at 4.5 percent. The price-earnings ratio is at 5.4. A German version of the annual report is available online at http://www.abo-wind.com. An English version will be published by the end of June.
The annual general meeting of ABO Wind AG takes place on Thursday, 30th June, starting at 2 pm at the Museum in Wiesbaden (Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2, 65185 Wiesbaden). A German version of the agenda is available online.
Shareholders are invited to register with their corresponding custodian banks for the annual general meeting.
