CEO Leonhard Birnbaum and Eon board member Katherina Reiche.
(Photo: dpa)
eat Eon presented its annual figures for the 2021 financial year on Wednesday and exceeded its own expectations. The operating profit rose by 25 percent to 4.7 billion euros, the consolidated net income from 1.2 billion euros to 5.3 billion euros by more than 300 percent.
Among other things, the group benefited from the high energy prices, which drove up profits from the customer solutions division by 45 percent to 1.5 billion euros. At the same time, the energy group made progress with the restructuring of the sales business in Great Britain and was able to significantly reduce costs there. A particularly high utilization of the power plants with the high prices also had a positive effect on the result.
Unlike Uniper, VNG or Leag, Eon benefits in particular from the high prices for coal, oil and gas – without them becoming a business risk. According to the statement on Wednesday, a “deliberately conservative procurement approach for all energy sales markets” means that one is only slightly exposed to a negative effect.
The prices for electricity, gas and other energy sources have been rising massively for months. Panic prevailed on the world market at times due to the war in Ukraine. The gas price rose to more than 300 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on the spot market and was thus more than ten times as high as a year ago.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
For energy companies like Eon, this is a double-edged sword: on the one hand they are making good money, on the other hand they fear a lack of Russian exports. Then you could no longer supply your customers with sufficient energy.
>> Listen in: Morality or yield, heating alternatives, world climate – answers to your questions
The group itself has held a stake of almost 15 percent in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which has already been put into operation, for eleven years. After the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was laid in parallel in the Baltic Sea, was temporarily stopped, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also called for the first connection to be stopped.
However, Eon rejects this. After all, Nord Stream 1 is an approved and fully operational project. “Overall, we see Nord Stream 1 in a completely different regulatory perspective to the ongoing discussions about the Nord Stream 2 line, in which we are not involved,” the company said.
Eon also has an urgent financial interest in keeping the first Nord Stream pipeline operational. The profits from the participation flow into the pension assets. Eon spun off the remaining Russian activities to Uniper in 2015.
forecast confirmed
Eon is still making the forecast for the current financial year with reservations, since the further consequences of the war for business development and the key figures cannot be fully estimated at this point in time.
Under these conditions, Eon expects an Ebitda between 7.6 and 7.8 billion euros. After the closure of the last nuclear power plants, this should generally be achieved through organic growth in the core business. Eon expects adjusted net income to range between EUR 2.3 and 2.5 billion. Eon confirmed the dividend proposal of 49 cents per share (previous year: 47 cents).
More: “Unforeseen consequences for households”: RWE boss warns of energy embargo against Russia
