DEI announced that it recorded recurring EBITDA of €937 million for the nine-month period of 2023, compared to €644 million for the corresponding nine-month period of 2022, indicating an increase in operating profitability by 45.4%.
Specifically:
• Recurring EBITDA at €937 m in 9M 2023 from €644 m in 9M 2022
• Increased Capex by 81% (€775 m from €427 m) compared to 9M 2022 for Distribution Network and RES projects as well as the new Natural Gas Unit
• ~670MW of RES projects in operation & 1.3GW under construction in Greece
• Completion of the acquisition of Enel’s operations in Romania - PPC’s first major expansion into a new geography representing a transformational event for PPC’s growth strategy
• Agreement for the acquisition of Kotsovolos - Transformation of PPC into an integrated provider of products and services & acceleration of customer-centric transformation
Increased operational profitability in 9M2023due to the decreasein operating expenses and mainly in the energy purchases, natural gas and CO2emissions expenses. Specifically, EBITDA on a recurring basis amounted to € 936.8m increased by €292.6m (45.4%) compared to 9M2022.
In Q32023 recurring EBITDA amounted to €347.1m compared to €215m in Q3 2022.
Pre-tax profits amounted to €391.2 m compared to pre-tax losses of €151.1 m in 9M 2022 since they were affected by the gain of €141.6 m from the sale of former lignite areas to the Greek State which was recorded in Q2 2023 financial results.
Net profits of €267.5m were recorded in 9Μ2023compared to net losses of €169.8m in 9Μ2022
Commenting on the financial results, Mr. Georgios Stassis, President and CEO of DEI S.A., stated:
“Our performance for 9M 2023 has been strong despite the challenges by the external environment, with geopolitical tensions following the energy crisis and covid-19, showcasing in this way the resilience of our business model.
We have been able to accelerate our investments in strategic areas such as Renewables and networks, keeping our leverage well within our targets with high liquidity as well, while at the same time we continued to support our customers by providing competitive tariffs. For the full year, we are confident to achieve the target for a recurring EBITDA of approximately €1.2 bn. that we have set.
In Renewables, we have now reached the 670MW capacity in Greece and we are currently constructing additional projects of 1.3 GW capacity in total. In parallel, we are expanding our presence in countries of our region - as per our Business Plan - as is Romania, following the conclusion of the acquisition of the operations of Enel in the country.
This is a transformational move for PPC in order to become a Leading SouthEast European Clean Utility. In Greece, the agreement to acquire Kotsovolos, accelerates the transition of PPC to an integrated provider of products and services on both digital and physical level, building on the customer centricity pillar of our strategy.
We are excited for the ongoing transformation of PPC and we will provide a strategy update, as well as our vision for the new PPC, in a Capital Markets Day at the end of January in London."
Operating figures
As far as domestic demand is concerned, in Q32023,it increased by8.7%, compared to 2022, reversing the trend of previous quarters. As far as 9M2023 is concerned, domestic demand decreased by 2.6% while total demand, that is including exports, decreased by 3.5% due to the reduction in exports.
PPC’s average retail market share in the country, declined to 57.5% in 9M 2023 from 63% in the corresponding period of 2022. Specifically, the average retail market share in the Interconnected System1 decreased to 54.1% in September 2023 (from 62% in September 2022), while PPC’s average market share, per voltage, was 44% (from 81.9%) in High Voltage, 34% (from 37.5%) in Medium Voltage and 65.1% (from 66.6%) in Low Voltage.
In electricity generation PPC’s average market share decreased to 38.2% in 9M 2023 from 44.9% in 9m2022mainly due to the lower gas fired generation.
Analysis of Revenues & Operating Expenses of PPC Group
Revenues
Turnover for 9M 2023, decreased by €3,039.2 or 35.5% due to lower tariffs driven by lower wholesale market prices, as well as due to the reduction of volume sold as a result of the decrease in domestic demand and PPC supply market share.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses before depreciation decreased in 9M 2023 by 42.1% (€4,586.8 m compared to €7,918.5 m mainly as a result of the above-mentioned decrease in expenses for natural gas purchases, energypurchasesand CO2emission allowances.
One off items impacting EBITDA
EBITDA in 9M2023 has been negativelyimpactedby the provision for personnel’s severance payment
of € 21.3m.
EBITDA in 9M 2022 has been negatively affected by the extraordinary contribution imposed on electricity generators for the period October 2021 –June 2022, was recorded in Q3 2022and which for PPC was calculated at € 276 mand following the final settlement in Q4 2022,decreased to €245.3 m.
Capex
Capital expenditureamounted to €774.8m in 9M2023 compared to €427m in9M2022. As shown in the table below, most of the increase is attributed to higher investments in the Distribution Network, RES projects and the new gas fired unit in Alexandroupolis with a capacity of 840 MW.
