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Strong fourth quarter boosts Wärtsilä

Strong fourth quarter boosts Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä has announced a pre-tax profit of EUR494m ($560m) for 2014, down from EUR544m in 2013.

The result comes as power generation markets remain tough, but the company's ship power division performed well, particularly for LPG and LNG carriers.

The ship power division saw orders of EUR460m in the fourth quarter, in line with the previous quarter but a slight drop compared to Q4 2013.

During the course of the year, ship power's order intake increased by 6% despite a slowdown in the ordering of vessels. The company duel fuel offerings were strong as LNG is increasingly adopted as a marine fuel. Gas carriers accounted for 34% of order intake during 2014.

“Wärtsilä performed well in 2014, a year characterised by challenging market conditions," commented ceo and president Björn Rosengren. "Net sales and profitability developed in line with our expectations. Net sales grew by 4% to EUR4.7bn, largely due to a strong fourth quarter."

"Although overall vessel contracting slowed during 2014, the robust ordering of gas carriers and the continued demand for specialised tonnage resulted in good ordering activity for Ship Power.

"How the current market uncertainties will impact customers’ investment decisions is not yet clear, and therefore our market outlook remains cautious," Rosengren stated. The company expect net sales to grow between 0 and 10% in 2015, and operational profitability to be between 12 and 12.5%.