Wärtsilä Results Up with Strong Offshore, Specialised Vessel Orders

Björn Rosengren, president and CEO of Wärtsilä, said the Ship Power division did well despite global uncertainty.

Wärtsilä Corp. (Wärtsilä) has recorded a strong third quarter for 2012, with its quarterly operating profit excluding one-off items rising 21 percent year-on-year to €113 million ($147.2 million) to beat expectation from a Platts' survey of analysts of around €104 million ($135.5 million), according to its latest results report.

"Despite the continuing uncertainty in the global economy and the tough market conditions, both our order intake and net sales developed well. In the third quarter they were up by 14% and 28% respectively," said Björn Rosengren, president and CEO.

"Ship Power's year-on-year performance is strong, and has been supported by both an active offshore sector and the Hamworthy acquisition," he added.

The company has said the acquisition of equipment and services company Hamworthy Plc. at the start of the year is important to its growth in the offshore, marine gas applications, and environmental solutions markets.

Wärtsilä said its offshore and specialised vessels activity in its Ship Power division "continues to stand out," saying it received 229 contracts for new vessels over the quarter, and has had 761 contracts since the start of the year.

But the numbers were down significantly from last year, when the average quarterly contracting volume was 353 vessels, saying it reflected the tough market for bulkers, tankers, and container vessels.

However, the company said contracting activity has been robust for offshore and specialized vessels, and for ferries, particularly in developing markets.

Wärtsilä raised its guidance for the full year, saying it expects total sales to grow 10-15 percent and operating profit margin to be 10.5-11 percent, compared with a previous forecast of a 5-10 percent rise in sales and a margin of 10-11 percent.