GE Vernova posts continued losses along with rising revenues for Q1 2024

The company posted a net income loss of $100 million. Meanwhile, the company’s revenue grew from $6.8 billion (€6.34 billion) in Q1 of 2023 to $7.3 billion (€6.81 billion) in Q1 2024. 

GE Vernova’s orders for the first quarter of this year meanwhile remained steady, matching last year’s Q1 figure at $9.7 billion (€9.05 billion). 

The firms adjusted Ebita was $189 million (€176 million). 

The manufacturer listed on the New York stock exchange as an independent company for the first time on 2 April this year. 

“We delivered solid results with significant margin expansion across each segment, and I am pleased with the progress we are making as an independent company following our April 2 spin-off from GE,” CEO Scott Strazik said. 

Wind segment

The firm’s wind segment listed orders of $1.1 billion, down 40%, organically, “as developers progress through siting and permitting”.

It posted revenues of $1.6 billion which were down 6%. The company said this was due to lower onshore revenue which was partially offset by “offshore backlog execution”.

The wind segment had 600MW of turbine orders and said it was contnuing to implement its strategy of “selectivity, lean, and pricing”.

On a call that expanded on the results Strazik addressed onshore wind primarily, stating: 

“Even in a very low volume Q1 with just over a billion of onshore wind revenue the onshore wind business still delivered positive EBITDA for the third straight quarter. We expect second half revenue will be substantially higher than first half revenue, with a larger North America mix. 

“We are very excited about where this business performance can go as the orders and revenue accelerate in the medium term.” 

Ken Parks, GE Vernova’s CFO, added: 

“Wind results are demonstrating clear signs of progress. We’re integrating onshore and offshore, centred around three key workhorse products, which is resulting in improved quality, better availability and incremental cost savings. Combined with higher second half onshore volume projects based on our existing backlog, we anticipate improving profitability as we move through the year.”

Offshore issues

While the firm’s onshore wind segment showed signs of encouragement, offshore wind continues to tackle industry-wide macroeconomic issues. 

The firm’s decision to shift focus from its 18MW Halliade-X turbine onto a scaled down 15.5/16.5MW turbine had a knock-on effect on New York state’s much anticipated offshore wind tender, which failed to finalise contracts with developers that had earmarked the 18MW turbines for their proposed projects. 

Addressing the offshore wind business on Thursday, Strazik said: 

“In offshore, we are working through our existing backlog. While we believe offshore is key to the energy transition, we will remain highly selective on new orders.”

Referencing the macroeconomic situation and GE Vernova’s switched focus to its 15.5/16.5MW turbine, Strazik later added: “With the phase that offshore wind has been in generally over the last few years it has been hard to projects to a point that they are ready to thrive. But through our iteration with our customers and where we’re going I want to tell you that we’re exited about where we’re going here.

“We are only going to add to that backlog with materially different economic terms than what is in our backlog today. And that’s a combination of many things: price, other terms, and really leaning in on projects that are set to thrive.”