Wartsila Earnings: Shipbuilding Activity Remains Heightened in Late 2024; 2025 Outlook Is Positive

Wide-moat Wartsila continued to benefit from presently exceptional shipbuilding demand conditions in the fourth quarter of 2024. Organic order intake jumped 35% year on year in the fourth quarter, with the consequent 17% organic rise in new orders for 12 months to December 2024 eclipsing our full-year forecasts. Nonetheless, Wartsila delivered fourth-quarter and full-year sales and operating income that tracked broadly in line with our expectations. Investors reacted positively to the bumper fourth-quarter intake of new orders, pushing Wartsila shares some 6% higher in early trade. Wartsila’s order book currently sits at an all-time high of EUR 8.4 billion as at December 2024, setting it up for a bumper year of earnings growth in 2025.