In the past financial year, Eon was able to increase its adjusted Ebidta by two percent to 8.1 billion euros thanks to growth in the business with networks and customer solutions.
(Photo: dpa)
Eat Because the Essen-based energy group has clearly exceeded its own expectations with a profit (Ebitda) of 8.1 billion euros, investments are now also set to increase by six billion euros. The company announced on Wednesday that by 2027, 33 billion euros are to flow into network expansion, the connection of renewables and business with electricity and gas customers.
Eon CEO Leonhard Birnbaum said on the published balance sheet for 2022: “The crisis makes it clear: decarbonization, the energy transition and the expansion of infrastructure must be massively accelerated.” Eon also expects an adjusted Ebitda of 7.8 to 8 for 2023 .0 billion euros. Shareholders are expected to receive a dividend of 51 cents per share for 2022, up from 49 cents the year before.
The Essen-based company made the greatest profit last year with the network business and customer business. The adjusted Ebitda rose here from 6.3 billion to around seven billion euros. The networks brought in the majority, but the customer solutions also increased their profits by almost 200 million to a total of 1.7 billion euros.
Nevertheless, Birnbaum made it clear: 2023 will continue to be a year of crisis. “We must not lull ourselves into a false sense of security. Although wholesale prices have fallen again, they are still at a level that we thought was unthinkable before the crisis,” said Birnbaum.
While a megawatt hour (MWh) still cost an average of 48 euros on the futures market in January 2019, in the first half of October 2021 almost three times that amount was due at 130 euros. At the end of December, the stock exchange price even jumped to 325 euros. In the course of 2022, it even rose to almost 700 euros per MWh at its peak. In the meantime, the prices have settled at a level of just under 130 euros.
Drastic price increase
It is therefore not surprising that prices are rising. Eon only raised the prices for its electricity and gas customers much later than other energy and basic suppliers. But not too tight either. Only in January was there another drastic increase: For customers outside of the basic service, the costs sometimes double from March 1st.
From 26.9 cents per kilowatt hour, it sometimes goes up to 50.11 cents. At the same time, the energy price brake takes effect for a large part of these costs. However, this is of little help to one group of customers at the moment: those who purchase district heating from Eon.
As early as November, some of them received additional payment claims of several thousand euros for 2021. The costs are also expected to increase massively again for 2022. An average household in Hamburg could then pay up to 3,000 euros more than planned.
The consumer advice center considers the price increases by the Essen energy supplier Eon to be illegal. The Federal Association (VZBV) is now even planning to take action against the company with a model declaratory action, as the Handelsblatt reported in advance.
“We consider these price increases to be ineffective because the price change clauses do not meet the legal requirements,” believe the consumer advocates. Eon and other district heating providers use the price formula to determine the price for their product.
>> Read here: Eon shocks district heating customers with a surcharge of 3,000 euros
The components can be specified individually. Only two elements have to be included by law: the production costs by the company and the respective conditions on the heating market.
State cartel authorities became aware of price jumps
Among other things, Eon uses an index for the natural gas exchange price as a guide. This is one of the main reasons for the massive increase in district heating prices at the group – and one of the points of criticism from consumer advocates: Eon is one of the few providers who use this special index as a basis. Most companies, on the other hand, are guided by other indices that lead to significantly lower prices, according to the accusation.
At the price that you invest, you can also buy in current trading, Eon justifies itself. And that’s exactly what customers and consumer advocates have doubts about. The business area for sustainable energy infrastructure solutions (EIS), which also includes district heating, increased its profit significantly last year due to the high gas prices: Adjusted Ebitda grew by around 90 million euros compared to the previous year to around 570 million euros.
The state antitrust authorities have also become aware of the massive price jumps at district heating providers such as Eon. Some even expect that there will be a test in certain cases.
More: Eon Supervisory Board Chairman Kley criticizes nuclear phase-out: “It’s something adventurous”