The energy crisis ensures hefty profits at RWE.
(Photo: imago images / Rupert Oberhäuser)
Essen, Dusseldorf The energy company RWE is raising its forecast for the current year by 1.5 billion euros. The reason for this is particularly good business in energy trading.
At group level, RWE now expects adjusted operating income (Ebitda) of five to 5.5 billion euros instead of the previous 3.6 to four billion euros, RWE announced on Wednesday. The ad hoc announcement speaks of an “extraordinarily good result”.
The prices for electricity, gas and other energy sources have been rising massively for months. As a result, RWE’s profits from energy trading are increasing, especially with fossil fuels. Trading in electricity, gas and coal had already given the company its best result in years in 2021.
The group benefits above all from what is currently getting other suppliers such as Uniper, VNG and Leag in trouble: high income from security deposits for futures transactions with electricity, gas, coal and CO2 certificates.
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In the core business, RWE expects an adjusted EBITDA of 4.3 to 4.8 billion euros. The group had previously announced 2.9 to 3.3 billion euros. RWE expects “a continuation of the positive earnings development” in the coming year as well.
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Under the “Energy Trading” division, RWE Supply & Trading sells the electricity it generates to external customers and procures the fuel and the necessary CO2 certificates. However, it has also established itself as an intermediary for pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Energy trading earns significantly more
Because the division is already bringing in EUR 545 million in the first half of the year, RWE expects adjusted EBITDA of well over EUR 350 million for the year as a whole. Last year, RWE sold 203,101 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity and 45,721 GWh of gas – most of it to external customers via RWE Supply & Trading. While electricity sales grew by four percent, natural gas trading soared by 25 percent.
But the business with renewables also contributed to the good results in the first half of the year. The mega offshore wind farm Triton Knoll in the North Sea is now up and running – and favorable wind conditions have boosted profits in the offshore wind division by almost EUR 200 million.
And without a cold snap in the US state of Texas, the onshore wind division is also making profits again: in the first six months of the year it was around 490 million euros. For comparison: A year earlier, RWE had to record a minus of 42 million.
This year, however, business is going so well that the group is also raising its earnings forecast for the full year 2022 in the onshore wind/solar division to between 0.9 and 1.1 billion euros.
After the preliminary figures were published, the RWE share jumped by 2.6 percent. The Essen-based company plans to present the official results on August 11 weeks.
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