“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç

Two publicly traded wind companies in Germany, turbine maker Repower Systems and project developer Plambeck Neue Energien, both blame the political uncertainty which has bedevilled the German wind market throughout 2003 for project delays that hit their earnings. Repower reports a loss of EUR 3.8 million during the first nine months of 2003 before interest and tax, after an EUR 8.2 million profit in the same period a year previously. Gross revenue was EUR 138.8 million, slightly down on the EUR 139.5 million in the first nine months of 2002. Repower also attributes its drop in performance to "increases in spending to achieve the projected increase in revenue for the year as a whole," and to a fall in earnings from turbines built under licence. Plambeck reports a substantial drop in turnover to EUR 59.5 million during the first nine months of the year compared with EUR 118.6 million in the same period of 2002. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation for 2003 were EUR 6.3 million from January to September, down on the EUR 12.3 million of the previous year. Apart from the political problems, the company has also undergone substantial restructuring and consolidation which is expected to bear fruit in 2004.