*Vestas Wind Systems gets about 40% of sales from Americas
*Analysts warn of more pro-fossil fuel policies from the U.S.
09 November 2016, London — Shares in Vestas Wind Systems A/S plunged after U.S. voters unexpectedly propelled Republican nominee Donald Trump to the presidency, sparking concern that the renewable energy industry will face political headwinds in the future.
The world’s biggest maker of wind turbines fell as much as 14 percent and traded 6.6 percent lower at 440.20 kroner as of 10:22 a.m. in Copenhagen. The Danish company already lost ground last week as U.S. polls started to tighten, bringing this year’s declines to about 10 percent.
Analysts had already guided investors in Vestas to expect price shocks depending on the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that about 41.3 percent of Vestas’s revenue last year came from the Americas.
“The Vestas share reaction is a result of concerns that Trump will focus more on fossil fuels,” Otto Friedrichsen, equity strategist at Formuepleje, said by phone after the result was clear. “Now there’s concern how Vestas will perform in the U.S. under a president who’ll be more interested in looking out for the country’s coal industry.”
According to an Ernst & Young LLP survey published last month, the U.S. stands to lose its position as the top-ranked renewable-energy market for investors under a Trump administration.
Trump has made clear “he hates wind turbines and will do what he can to fight them,” Jacob Pedersen, head of equity analysis at Sydbank, said earlier this month.