http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/wind/financial-discrepancies-and-safety-concerns-take-shine-off-lm-wind.html

LM Wind Power’s 2010 financial results announced this week have revealed the company has faced ‘significant financial control issues at its Spanish operations, as news breaks that it is also facing health and safety fines in the US.

The company, which has reported a drop in both profit margin and revenues, said a thorough investigation has led to discrepancies in both its 2008 and 209 audited results amounting to €6.3m in shareholder equity.
It said as a result the decision has been taken to re-state the accounts to correctly reflect the results attributable to those years.
LM Wind’s US division that operates out of Grand Folks, North Dakota, has been fined $136,500 after 11 health and safety violations exposed workers to unsafe conditions.
‘The employer is well aware of OSHA requirements and has continued a pattern of failing to comply with them,’ said Tom Deutscher, Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s area office director.
‘Despite having been cited for similar infractions in the past, the company continues to place workers in harm’s way by allowing hazards to exist.’
The company did, however, try to remain positive about its long-term prospects and the growth of the wind industry. It said long-term dynamics remain ‘highly favourable’ with difficult market conditions offset by growth in the Chinese and Indian markets.
Roland Sundén, CEO of LM Wind Power, said, ‘2010 proved our relative strong position in a continuing difficult global market and our partial success in compensating for the sudden geographic shift in demand and downward pricing pressure while we continued to strengthen our product offer and operational footprint for the future.’
He added, ‘In an industry that continues to consolidate, LM Wind Power has a strong competitive position thanks to our significant know-how, flexibility, innovation and service offering. These qualities afford us some degree of protection in our market niche. However, no player in this market was immune to margin erosion in 2010.’
The company reported revenue of €727.5m, 6.4 per cent lower than previous year with profit margin of €125.1m, which stands at nine per cent lower than the €137.4m achieved in 2009.