Cadeler revenue doubles on fleet expansion despite lower utilization rates

Cadeler (NYSE:CDLR) reported a sharp increase in first-quarter revenue and core earnings, validating its multi-year fleet expansion strategy even as short-term vessel maintenance and transit windows temporarily pulled down fleet utilization rates.

The Copenhagen, Denmark-based offshore wind installation contractor generated revenue of EUR 125 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, roughly doubling the EUR 65 million reported during the comparable prior-year period.

The top-line surge trickled down to profitability, with EBITDA climbing 95.8% to EUR 47 million, up from EUR 24 million in the opening quarter of fiscal 2025.

The growth was primarily propelled by a substantial increase in contracted project activity following the continuous integration of newly delivered installation vessels over the past twelve months.

Cadeler concluded the quarter with a robust order backlog of EUR 2.705 billion, with approximately 82% linked to projects that have already cleared final investment decisions by developers.

Despite the elevated top-line figures, the company’s aggregate fleet utilization rate contracted to 47.6% across its ten operating vessels, down from 55.3% in the first quarter of 2025.

Corporate management attributed the decline to short-term operational interruptions, including necessary transit periods for the Wind Ally and Wind Mover, the finalization of upgrade scopes for the Wind Keeper, and a scheduled dry-docking maintenance window for the Wind Orca.

On the capital allocation front, Cadeler shored up its balance sheet to fund long-cycle asset deployment.

The company finalized a private placement of common stock in March 2026, raising approximately EUR 175 million before gross transaction expenses.

The net proceeds are earmarked to partially finance the construction of two next-generation T-class wind installation vessel newbuilds, slated for delivery in 2030 and 2031, which are engineered to handle increasingly massive and complex offshore turbines.

A portion of the capital will also fund the acquisition of a dedicated vessel to expand the firm’s future marine scour protection operations.

Reaffirming its full-year financial visibility, Cadeler reiterated its fiscal 2026 guidance parameters.

The company expects full-year revenue to land between EUR 854 million and EUR 944 million, with full-year EBITDA projected in the range of EUR 420 million to EUR 510 million.