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DGAP-News: EVN AG
/ Key word(s): Interim Report/Half Year Results
Highlights
EBITDA, EBIT and Group net result above previous year In line with the development of energy revenue, the cost of electricity purchases from third parties and primary energy expenses fell by 12.8% to EUR 555.2m. The underlying reasons included the lower use of primary energy carriers which accompanied the reduction in thermal generation as well as declines in wholesale prices and purchased volumes. The cost of materials and services rose by 8.4% to EUR 132.7m, in line with developments in the international project business. The share of results from equity accounted investees with operational nature rose to EUR 61.2m in the first half of 2019/20 (previous year: EUR 4.6m). In addition to a positive non-recurring effect at RAG, this increase resulted mainly from an improvement in earnings at EVN KG. This company's prior year earnings had been influenced by higher wholesale procurement costs and by negative effects from the valuation of hedges as of 31 March 2019. A contrasting factor was the recognition of an impairment loss to the Ashta hydropower plant (EUR 4.9m) to reflect the higher country risk premium that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic. EBITDA recorded by the EVN Group rose by 17.7% to EUR 388.8m in the first half of 2019/20. Higher investments, the capitalisation of rights of use following the initial application of IFRS 16 and the increased carrying amount of property, plant and equipment that resulted from revaluations as of 30 September 2019 led to an increase of 7.8% in scheduled depreciation and amortisation to EUR 143.6m. An increase in the country risk premiums due to the Financial results declined to EUR -29.1m in the reporting period (previous year: EUR -23.1m). Group net result for the first half of 2019/20 amounted to EUR 152.7m, which represents an increase of 18.4% over the previous year. Solid balance sheet structure Both rating agencies confirmed their ratings for EVN in May 2020. However, Standard & Poor's revised the outlook from stable to negative in line with the outlook for the province of Lower Austria, EVN's majority shareholder: Moody's: A1 Rating (outlook stable); Standard & Poor's: A Rating (outlook negative). EVN's goal is to maintain ratings in the solid A range in the future. Medium-term investment plan In the area of renewable generation, EVN is continuing to expand its wind power capacity towards the targeted 500 MW and is currently constructing a wind park in Kettlasbrunn with an installed capacity of 8.4 MW; the commissioning is expected by year-end 2020. EVN is also evaluating the possible realisation of large-scale photovoltaic equipment in its supply areas. Investments in the electricity networks make an important contribution to protecting supply security and quality. The current roll-out of smart meters in Lower Austria marks the start of an additional investment cycle. Developments in the energy and environmental services business Electricity generation from thermal power plants fell sharply by 44.7% because the use of the thermal power plant in Theiss for network stabilisation was lower than the previous year and electricity generation from hard coal at the Dürnrohr power plant was terminated last year. Environmental and water business WTE Wassertechnik, which is responsible for the international project business, had nine projects under realisation as of 31 Mach 2020: in Bahrain, Croatia, Kuwait, Lithuania, Romania and Poland. sludge2energy, a 50:50 joint venture by WTE Wassertechnik, recorded a success in the area of thermal sludge utilisation. In February 2020, the company received an order for the construction of a thermal sludge utilisation plant in Hannover. The plant will have the capacity to treat 130,000 t of dehydrated sludge per year and is expected to start operations at the end of 2022. The contract volume amounts to approximately EUR 40m. Reduced outlook for the 2019/20 financial year The Letter to Shareholders on the first half of 2019/20 is available under
28.05.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |
| Language: | English |
| Company: | EVN AG |
| EVN Platz | |
| 2344 Maria Enzersdorf | |
| Austria | |
| Phone: | 294 |
| E-mail: | |
| Internet: | |
| ISIN: | AT0000741053 |
| WKN: | 074105 |
| Indices: | ATX |
| Listed: | Foreign Exchange(s) Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Market) |
| EQS News ID: | 1056453 |
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| End of News | DGAP News Service |
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1056453Â Â 28.05.2020Â
