"The 2004 profit downgrade is a blow to investor confidence, which was already low to begin with," said Jyske Bank analyst Brian Borsting, who retained his "sell" rating on the share.

"The message also creates concern because it raises questions about the integration process," he said.

Vestas also booked a 38 million euro charge for an offshore wind farm that has had key parts replaced. The Horns Reef project is important to its ability to win more offshore orders. Vestas is still negotiating with the customer, Elsam, over compensation for downtime.

"The project is up and running now, and we're looking forward to be able to close this chapter shortly," Vestas Chief Executive Svend Sigaard told Reuters, adding he hoped for closure in the first half of this year.

Vestas shares closed down 5 percent at 81.75 crowns, underperforming the Copenhagen bourse's top-20 KFX-index, which was little changed.

Vestas now expects to report a 2004 loss before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) of 7 million euros when it releases results on March 30, compared with previous expectations of a profit of 89 million euros.

However, Vestas raised its forecast for 2005 turnover after winning more orders than expected this year from the United States.

It now expects 2005 turnover to be between 3 billion and 3.2 billion euros, against 2.6 billion to 2.9 billion previously.

"We now have a more firm view of the sales situation in the US this year, which is why we upgraded our sales forecasts," Sigaard said.

Several analysts had expected the increased sales to widen profit margins this year, but Vestas retained its operating (EBIT) margin forecast of about 4 percent.

"It's not surprising that the American orders are running on a very low margin. But the fact that they can't seem to raise margins indicates challenges in other markets as well," said Danske Equities analyst Henrik Breum.

"With profitability at these levels, the main problem is they don't have a sustainable business model," he said.

Last week Vestas won its third large order from the US this year, sending its shares higher.

"Today's share price reaction ... seems very subdued when you consider that the share has risen 40 percent in the last three months on these US orders," said Sydbank analyst Jakob Petersen.