An increase in sales of 16.4 percent to 2.145 billion euros and an increase in earnings by 27.6 percent to 188.4 million euros. “The upswing in spring and summer, which was surprising for everyone, triggered a correspondingly strong demand for energy,” said Werner Steinecker, General Director of Energie AG, at yesterday’s presentation of the 2021/22 balance sheet.
According to Steinecker, he cannot say how things will go on with the “upheavals” in the electricity and gas wholesale markets in recent weeks. Just so much that the price guarantee for household customers until the end of 2022 is “well secured”. Of course, this does not apply to new customers.
The “huge hunger for energy” all over the world due to the still good economic situation, however, does not lead to the expectation that the prices for the megawatt hour of electricity will fall back into the double-digit range that has been used for years. “I would rather assume around 200 euros for the next few months,” said Steinecker. With regard to the outlook for the new financial year that has been running since October 1st, he hopes “that Omikron will not throw a spanner in the works”.
- Upper Austria today: Energie AG takes stock
In any case, “massive investments” of 215 million euros are planned. “We got Ebensee out of the drawer,” said Chief Technology Officer Stefan Stallinger. The project for the pumped storage power plant is to be pushed ahead this year so far that a building decision will be made in 2023 and construction may also begin in the same year. The Timelkam gas power plant, which was previously used as an “emergency power generator for grid stabilization”, is now in continuous operation.
“We are positioning ourselves against the market distortions by expanding renewable energy sources,” said Stallinger. By the end of the decade, 725 million euros are to flow into water and wind power as well as photovoltaics. But the network expansion will also take up a large part of this sum.
The previous national company Fiber Service Upper Austria and the activities of Energie AG in the context of “Fiber to the Home – FTTH” are to come under a common corporate umbrella and will in future be called Broadband Upper Austria. Around 40 employees are to work for this new company in the newly built addition to the Energie AG group headquarters.
CFO Andreas Kolar also pointed out that the company had “done its homework”, and also that it had “cleared” the debt from one billion euros to below 500 million euros. “That creates flexibility,” says Kolar. (hn)
Fiscal year 2020/21
- 2.145 billion euros was sales, an increase of 16.4%.
- 27.4 percent the profit growth amounted to 188.4 million euros.
- 378.7 million euros cash flow from the operating area was recorded, an increase of 103.8 percent.
Source: Nachrichten
