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Consolidated profit increased year-on-year by 70.6 percent to EUR 214.7 million, while earnings before taxes increased by 53.7 percent to EUR 276.2 million. Sales increased by 3.1 percent to EUR 2.193 billion. The share of renewable generation was 72 percent, the energy supplier announced today.
The increase in consolidated earnings to EUR 217.4 million is due “to different developments in the individual segments and positive reporting date effects from hedging energy generation”, while sales are “mainly due to price effects in renewable electricity generation, valuation effects from hedging transactions and higher sales prices the EVN warmth”.
At EUR 193.2 million, personnel expenses in the reporting period were 7.7 percent above the previous year’s level “due to adjustments to the collective agreement”. The number of employees increased year-on-year to 7,185 employees (previous year: 7,147).
At 1,573 GWh, EVN’s electricity generation in the first half of 2022/23 was 21.2 percent below the comparable figure for the previous year. Favorable water flow could not compensate for the below-average wind conditions, so the reasoning.
With regard to the balance sheet structure, the national group stated in a press release: “EVN continues to have a solid and stable capital structure. The increase in net debt to EUR 1,748.4 million as of March 31, 2023 resulted on the one hand from the sustained high level of investment and on the other hand from the liquidity equalization for the sales company EVN KG to cover working capital requirements.”
Group optimistic about outlook
The group is optimistic about the outlook. “The contribution of EVN’s operating activities to the consolidated result in the 2022/23 financial year is expected to be at the upper end of the previously communicated range of around EUR 250 million,” it said. In addition, the consolidated result for 2022/23 will benefit from the earnings contribution from the investment in Verbund AG in the amount of 158 million euros.
51 percent of EVN belongs to the state of Lower Austria, 28 percent to Wiener Stadtwerke, the rest is in free float. Last week, the announcement by EVN to pay out a special dividend caused a lot of trouble. The state energy supplier had announced that shareholders should receive a special dividend of 62 cents in addition to the basic dividend of at least 52 cents per share. The special distribution amounts to 111 million euros. The SPÖ said you could “just shake your head”. She pointed out that EVN’s electricity tariffs are among the best of all private and public providers in Austria. The Greens said that the state government made up of ÖVP and FPÖ “rip off households”. Like other parties, the NEOS demanded a reduction in the tariffs for the citizens of the country. Provincial Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) explained at the time that one would pay close attention to ensuring that EVN lowered prices as far and as soon as possible.
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