40% growth solidifies leading position within system supplies
Delivering a record year with an organic growth of 40%, further solidifying our leading position.
KK Wind Solutions delivered a record year with a revenue of DKK 2.2bn outgrowing the market significantly with an organic growth of 40%, and a positive contribution from all business units. The growth was primarily driven by an all-time high order intake on new products as well as strong orders on existing products. The results in 2019 is the effect of KK Wind Solutions’ strategy towards 2025 starting to materialise, successfully diversifying the customer portfolio with solutions in advanced technology and world-class electro-mechanical system supply.
With an annual result in 2019 of DKK 26m compared to DKK 25m in 2018, the result is as expected and reflecting the continued pressure on profit margins and KK Wind Solutions’ ongoing commitment to deliver the competitive solutions that the industry needs. The result for 2019 is also impacted by the change in ownership and associated integration cost.
As the price pressure in the supply chain continues to impact all market players, it also brings additional opportunities and growth potential as wind energy has manifested itself as the most competitive source of electricity in many markets.
“We are very satisfied of having secured a record year in terms of growth, which could not have been achieved without our many talented employees, taking on new tasks and opportunities with a strong desire and ability to make a positive impact towards our customers’ businesses. We remain humble, yet confident, that our strategic direction combined with an extended global footprint and new technology investments will enable us to capture future growth opportunities together with our customers,” says Chlinton A. Nielsen, CEO at KK Wind Solutions.
A strong long-term owner in A.P. Moller Holding
In September 2019, KK Wind Solutions was acquired by A.P. Moller Holding, bringing a strong track record in globalisation and added capabilities to accelerate KK Wind Solutions’ growth journey in wind and electrification of the society.
“Being a part of the global A.P. Moller Group is inspirational at many levels, and the strategic fit between the companies is very strong. Our companies share the same fundamental values and high standards throughout our business operations, making A.P. Moller Holding an ideal owner of KK Wind Solutions," says Chlinton A. Nielsen, and continues:
“A.P. Moller Holding has brought strong and professional capabilities as well as the financial strength to accelerate our strategy towards 2025, allowing us to follow our customers globally and to expand our system solutions across technology, supply chain and service.”
A new Board of Directors in place
In order to further support the global expansion and subsequent to the acquisition from A.P. Moller Holding, a new Board of Directors have been established in the group and with the recent addition of Ms. Elke Eckstein, Mr. Jesper Ridder Olsen and Mr. Fabrice Brégier considered complete.
Ms. Elke Eckstein brings vast international experience within Electronics Manufacturing Services and globalisation of supply chains, and currently holds a position as CEO of Enics AG and previously COO and CDO of Weidmuller Group. Besides many years working globally, Elke brings in a strong knowledge of the Asian markets and deep technology knowledge within power- and semiconductor development.
Mr. Jesper Ridder Olsen has a long international career as auditor and partner in KPMG and EY, and currently holds a position as CFO of Maersk Drilling. Besides many years of experience supporting top management and auditing of large international organisations, Jesper brings in a strong track record in the globalisation of organisations and associated business development, financing and optimisation on a global scale.
Mr. Fabrice Brégier has a long career within aerospace working for MBDA, Eurocopter and latest COO of Airbus until 2018. Since then Mr. Fabrice Brégier has been CEO of US Software company Palantir’s French subsidiary. Besides his many years working in a technology-driven Business to Business segment, Fabrice brings the latest knowledge of digitalisation and how to commercialise Big Data.
“KK Wind Solutions has enormous potential to continue to expand its global footprint and follow its customers’ international expansion. To support this as an owner, we have wanted to bring in new capabilities at the Board of Directors. I am very proud that we have been able to attract talents like Elke, Jesper and Fabrice, who together with the rest of the Board and the management team are to further develop KK Wind Solutions’ position in the global wind industry,” says Jan T. Nielsen, Chairman of the Board.
Continued growth and resilience towards pandemic
KK Wind Solutions is expected to continue the positive development, given the continued drive towards the green energy transition and increased deployment of wind turbines, particularly offshore. KK Wind Solutions is well positioned to benefit from the underlying market growth as well as to capture market share at the large OEMs both on new and existing platforms.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the short-term growth was expected to be moderate in 2020 with earnings continued under pressure as the value chain of the wind industry adapts to lower prices. Having secured the highest order backlog ever, a single-digit growth in both turnover and earnings is expected in 2020.
Regardless of the short-term uncertainty related to COVID-19, expectations are to further grow over the coming years and extend the global manufacturing footprint. Having secured a strong equity and balance sheet and dedicated ownership from A.P. Moller Holding, KK Wind Solutions has the financial resilience to withstand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sustainability in our DNA
Sustainability and social responsibility is a part of KK Wind Solutions’ DNA and strongly embedded in the way we operate and govern the company. We enable a sustainable future through our products, responsible business practices and reduced environmental impact.
During the past years, sustainability has been passionately communicated to employees to mobilise a grassroots movement, uniting people to undertake actions and promote change inside our company. Going forward, we want to sustain and grow this movement as well as applying a more focused management system and governance to keep progressing. To further reduce the environmental impact of our operations and support the wind industry, we have ensured that our global electricity consumption is covered by wind power or other renewable energy sources.
Going forward, we will continue to improve our sustainability actions by setting ambitious targets and implementing processes that support sustainability while influencing our stakeholders and suppliers.
Explore our ‘Sustainability Report 2019’ to get an overview of our efforts, including overall focus areas and concrete activities as well as our results for the past year and goals for 2020.
Press contact
Kenneth Damm Hansen
Director - Marketing & Communication
Phone: +45 24 76 37 99
Email: kehan@kkwindsolutions.com