Clipper chief exec resigns as company braces for 2009 losses

The company behind plans to build the world's largest wind turbine yesterday announced its chief executive had resigned after just 18 months in the job, confirming that it expects to post a loss for the second half of 2009 in the process.

AIM-listed wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower blamed order deferrals and the delayed commissioning of new turbines for contributing to the poor results, alongside increased costs relating to its recently completed blade remediation programme and higher than expected warranty provisions for the Clipper's installed fleet of 467 turbines.

Clipper, which expects to release fully audited results for 2009 later this month, said revenue for the year reached about $740m (£494m) from the sale of 259 turbines. But it confirmed that it still expects to record a loss for the second half of the year, which will approach the level of the $120.2m pre-tax loss posted during the first half of the year.

The announcement of the results coincided with the resignation of Clipper CEO Doug Pertz.

Chairman at the company Jim Dehlsen said Pertz had helped the company through a transitional period. "From the time Doug assumed the CEO role, he has faced challenging economic and industry conditions," he said in a statement. "We recognise his contribution to Clipper’s success and wish him the best in all his future activities."

Pertz has been replaced with immediate effect by Mauricio Quintana, who takes on the role of president and CEO and had previously been director of corporate strategy and development at United Technologies Corp (UTC) for the past two years.

The move will further tighten Clipper's links with UTC, after the engineering giant shelled out £166m back in January to acquire a 49.5 per cent stake in the business. UTC also said last month that it is interested in making bigger investments in alternative energy, fuelling speculation it could take a majority stake in Clipper.

Clipper has already established working groups within the business to investigate how to work with UTC, a process Quintana is likely to accelerate.

Despite the management changes, the company remains bullish over its 2010 prospects, reporting that it expects to deliver approximately 180 turbines with a combined capacity of 450MW to customers this year. It added that most of the new deals are expected to be signed in the second half of 2010 and as a result it is predicting that an operating loss for the first half of the year will be followed by positive operating income in the second half, leading to approximately break-even results for the full year.