Weaker Winds Affect EnBW’s Numbers

German energy company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG reported a drop in first-quarter earnings in 2021 compared to the previous year, attributed partly to poorer wind conditions than in Q1 2020.

EnBW generated revenue of some EUR 6.83 billion (previous year EUR 5.58 billion), and an operating result (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR 814.1 million, a decrease of 13.8 percent on EUR 944.8 million EBITDA reported for the same period a year earlier.

The lower earnings are mainly due to various temporary measurement effects and also to generally poorer wind conditions than in the first quarter of the previous year, EnBW said.

The full-year earnings guidance for 2021 remains unaltered, the company said.

Adjusted EBITDA for the 2021 financial year is expected to be in a range between EUR 2.825 billion and EUR 2.975 billion, which is 2 per cent to 7 per cent above the previous year.

The corona pandemic had no significant impact on the operating business in the first three months of 2021, EnBW said.

”We continue to expect slight earnings growth this year. Our integrated portfolio approach means that we now have a highly robust business model. That is also confirmed by the capital market. Just this February, we successfully completed two bond issues for a total of €1 billion,” EnBW’s CFO Thomas Kusterer said.

”In renewables, for example, we have substantially expanded investment with our success in partnership with bp in the seabed area auction for the construction of two offshore wind farms in Great Britain.”

Net profit attributable to the shareholders of EnBW AG increased sharply from EUR -10.4 million in the previous year’s period to EUR 321.1 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Earnings per share were consequently EUR 1.19, versus EUR -0.04 a year earlier. The rise in the groip’s net profit is primarily due to the significantly improved financial result.

Net debt decreased by around 14 per cent compared with the previous year’s period due to the higher discount rate on pension provisions and to payments received under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act.

Adjusted EBITDA in EnBW’s Sustainable Generation Infrastructure segment, which includes Renewable Energies and Thermal Generation and Trading, marked a 24.9 per cent decrease compared to the same period a year earlier.

In Renewable Energies, adjusted EBITDA fell by 12.2 per cent to EUR 207.3 million. The decrease was mainly due to poor spring wind conditions this year at offshore and onshore wind farms, EnBW said.

The EnBW Group’s investment, at EUR 572.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, was significantly higher than EUR 300.4 investment in the same period of the previous year.

This mainly relates to bidding success in the seabed area auction for the construction of offshore wind farms in Great Britain.

Some 78.1 per cent of total investment was for growth projects such as the expansion of renewables and the rollout of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, EnBW said.

EnBW operates the Hohe See and the nearby Albatros offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. With a combined capacity of 609 MW, Hohe See and Albatros became fully operational in November 2019 and January 2020, respectively.

The company also operates the 336 MW EnBW Baltic 1 and Baltic 2 offshore wind farms, and is developing the 900 MW He Dreiht project in the German North Sea.