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Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 10:11am PDT | Modified: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 2:35pm
Plans for new Vestas headquarters on hold
Portland Business Journal
Wind turbine giant Vestas Wind Systems on Tuesday said it has slowed its plans to build a new 600,000-square-foot North American headquarters in Portland.
A dearth of activity in capital markets has pushed back ambitious plans to break ground this year, said Roby Roberts, senior vice president of external relations for Vestas Americas, the Danish company’s North American arm.
“We were going to break ground some time this year, but I don’t think we’re going to get that done,” Roberts said. “We’re still committed to (the project), we’re still moving forward. We’re not going at the same pace as before and most of that is the way the capital markets are performing. There’s not much money you can stick into real estate.”
In December, the company, which already hosts a North American headquarters in Portland spread across several buildings, announced plans to consolidate its local operations in a yet-to-be-built headquarters facility, likely in the South Waterfront.
The city and state offered an incentive package totaling about $31.5 million for the project.
Roberts said the company is still considering several properties, with much of its focus on the South Waterfront, and remains in talks with several players, from architects to state and city officials.
Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel in late February told the Portland Business Journal that the company’s first-quarter results would determine the company’s future capital expenses, including the Portland project.
The results came in Tuesday: Revenue jumped 58 percent to $1.4 billion with after-tax profits climbing 70 percent to $73 million. Shipments of wind turbines are up 21 percent.
But the news was mixed.
The company said it is pushing forward on plans to expand manufacturing capacity in China and the U.S., where it is building plants in Colorado.
But that expansion led the company to layoff 1,900 workers in Denmark and England, where until recently it had been manufacturing for the fast-growing U.S. market. The demand in those markets can no longer absorb the capacity generated by those plants.
In its announcement Tuesday, Vestas said revenue is expected to rise 20 percent this year to $9.4 billion — up from $7.8 billion last year.
Its investments in property, plant and equipment and other assets are expected to rise by just over $1.3 billion, down from a previous forecast of about $1.6 billion, thanks to its reduced investments in Denmark and Europe.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/27/daily15.html?ed=2009-04-28&ana=e_du_pub
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