The current conflict between the Russian government and the West is therefore also a burden for the Düsseldorf company.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The energy company Uniper significantly increased its operating profit in the past financial year thanks to higher energy prices. This emerges from the annual report that the group presented on Wednesday morning.
Accordingly, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to 1.2 billion euros, an increase of 19 percent over the previous year. Adjusted net income was 906 million euros, after 774 million euros in the previous year. Nevertheless, the bottom line is a loss of 4.1 billion euros, because Uniper has had to provide increased security for its business in recent months due to the sharp rise in electricity and gas prices.
The numbers are overshadowed above all by the recent escalation of the Ukraine crisis. A good relationship with Russia is extremely important for the gas company Uniper. The current conflict between the Russian government and the West is therefore also a burden for the Düsseldorf company.
Uniper is one of five Western companies that have invested in the new Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline together with the Russian energy group Gazprom. Gazprom has assumed 50 percent of the costs, the other companies around 10 percent each.
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The oil company OMV, which is also involved in the Nord Stream 2 financing, sees no need to write off the invested sum so far. According to the company, it received the first loan repayments last year.
Nord Stream 2 as a significant individual risk
At Uniper, it is unclear what will become of the 950 million euros invested. As long as Nord Stream 2 does not go into operation, it is also questionable how much of this money – and the expected return – the Düsseldorf group will get back. In its annual report on Wednesday, the group announced that it was currently analyzing possible effects on the financial, asset and earnings situation in the event of an end to the pipeline.
>> Read about this: Chancellor Scholz stops the approval process for Nord Stream 2
In the risk report for the half-year balance sheet for the 2019 financial year, Uniper had already announced that if Nord Stream 2 failed, the company “may have to write down the loan provided for Nord Stream 2” and “would not be able to realize the planned interest income”. The pipeline is a significant individual risk for the Uniper Group. The repayment became less likely on Tuesday after the federal government stopped the certification of the completed pipeline in the face of the Ukraine conflict.
At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep in touch with Moscow. Until recently, Uniper and other German companies had held on to a planned annual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 3, which was primarily about economic relations between the two countries. On Tuesday, the Eastern Committee, which organizes the meeting, announced that the meeting would not take place “due to deadlines”.
Good relations with Russia are key for Uniper, because the company buys large quantities of gas for its power plants from there. It is the largest customer of the Russian gas giant Gazprom. At the Handelsblatt energy summit in January, Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach said: “For us, Russia is an important, indispensable partner.”
Discussion on mandatory gas reserves
In principle, Uniper has long-term supply contracts with Gazprom, which the Russian company has always reliably complied with, as Uniper is happy to emphasize. Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia wanted to continue supplying raw materials to world markets.
However, against the background of the current conflict, Germany’s dependence on Russian natural gas is being criticized even more severely than before. In a colder winter, a gas supply stop from Russia could not have been compensated for from other sources.
Against this background, mandatory gas reserves are now being discussed. The federal government should think about obliging companies with gas storage facilities to keep certain minimum amounts of gas available, the Bloomberg news agency recently reported. And the European Commission is also developing plans for strategic gas reserves.
Such obligations would also affect Uniper, because the company operates eight huge gas storage facilities. In order to fill them, the group has so far been dependent on Russia.
More: Uniper cuts dividends to seven cents – parent company Fortum consolidates its power
