Renewable energy company Orsted on Wednesday reported a first-quarter operating profit above expectations but said the offshore wind industry remains challenged.
Orsted's market value has plummeted some 80 per cent from its 2021 peak amid cost inflation and supply disruptions and now faces further opposition in the United States where President Donald Trump's administration rejects offshore wind developments.
"The offshore wind industry is challenged in the short term with headwinds relating to supply chain, regulatory, and macroeconomic developments," the company said in a statement.
The company's quarterly profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), and excluding new partnerships and cancellation fees, came in at 8.6 billion Danish crowns ($1.3 billion) for the January-March period.
Analysts had on average expected an EBITDA of 7.88 billion crowns, a poll compiled by the company showed.
Orsted also said it would discontinue its Hornsea 4 offshore wind farm project in Britain, adding it expected to incur break-away costs of between 3.5 billion and 4.5 billion Danish crowns.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Louise Breusch Rasmussen and Terje Solsvik)