Wärtsilä sees risk of further €1 billion in cancellations

Though Wärtsilä Corporation today reported a "strong" first quarter with net sales up 46 percent to € 1.24 billion, developments in the Ship Power market remained "unchanged."

President and CEO Ole Johansson said that shipowner activity in the quarter "was mainly related to the rebalancing of capacity to demand and led to further cancellations and postponements in the market."

He revealed that Wärtsilä was hit by cancellations of €51 million in the quarter and sees a potential cancellation risk of approximately €1 billion more.

In the Power Plants market activity remained strong. Services continued its stable development but the slowdown in the marine industry has led to shorter visibility in the marine service market.

Mr. Johansson said that despite the risk of cancellations, the substantial order book at the end of the year should support a 10-20 percent growth in net sales for 2009, which would maintain profitability at last year's level.