EVN AG — Earnings Release 2012

Dec 13, 2012

News Details

Corporate | 13 December 2012 08:01

EVN AG: Business development in the 2011/12 financial year

EVN AG / Key word(s): Final Results/Final Results

13.12.2012 / 08:01

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(October 1st, 2011 - September 30th, 2012)

• Expansion of windpower capacity in the home market and Bulgaria by 38% to
  190 MW
• Expansion of natural heat power capacity in Lower Austria; with 63 plants
  EVN is the largest producer of natural heat in Austria
• Enlargement of hydropower plant assets in the home market and in Albania
  by 26 MW in total
• First construction phase for the natural gas transport pipeline
  Westschiene completed
• Start-up of co-generation plant in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
• Start-up of the natural gas supply in Zadar, Croatia
• Market entrance in Prague (CZ) and Serbia in the environmental services
  business
• Optimising financial flexibility: Refinancing and emission of bonds and
  credit facilities
• Outlook 2012/13: Group net profit is expected to be on the prior-year
  level

EURm 2011/12 Change in %
Revenue 2,846.5 +4.3
EBITDA 458.0 -3.6
Results from operating activities (EBIT) 206.7 -7.0
Group net profit 194.9 +1.4

Energy sector development

In the financial year 2011/12, the crude oil price mainly rose due to the
ongoing strong demand in Asia, and the continuing conflict between Iran and
the Western industrialised nations. The price of natural gas, which is
linked to the crude oil price, also rose. Despite the natural gas price
revisions, there were increasing differences between the natural gas price
defined in long-term supply contracts and those on the spot market. This
development can be attributed to the higher exploration volumes, mainly in
the USA, and falling demand in Europe. The forward prices for electricity
rose slightly year-on-year despite the significantly rise in the primary
energy prices. The spot market prices for electricity even decreased. The
development of primary energy and electricity prices led to lower or
negative margins for thermal electricity production.

Weather-related revenue development

In the 2011/12 financial year, EVN generated revenue of EUR 2,846.5m in
spite of a difficult business environment, a rise of 4.3% from the previous
year. In the energy business, higher energy sales due to the historically
coldest winter on record and higher end customer prices in South Eastern
Europe led to a revenue increase of 5.2%. In the environmental services
business, revenue fell by 3.3% as a result of the lower project
implementation volume.

Group net profit above the previous year level

In spite of the higher revenue, EBITDA fell by 3.6% to EUR 458.0m. This
development can be mainly attributed to the increase in the item
'Electricity purchases and primary energy expenses'. Depreciation and
amortisation fell by 0.6% to EUR 251.3m. As a consequence of these
developments, the results from operating activities were down 7.0% from the
previous year, to EUR 206.7m. The financial results, which could be
improved by 26.8% to EUR 53.0m, reflected a EUR 21.8m increase in the
income from investments, which more than compensated for the lower interest
balance. Whereas the profit before income tax decreased by 1.6% from the
previous year to EUR 259.7m, the Group net profit was up 1.4% to EUR
194.9m, which is mainly due to the lower income tax as well as the reduced
share of non-controlling interests.

Stable capital structure despite lower equity ratio and higher gearing

In the 2011/12 financial year, the gross cash flow amounted to EUR 480.3m,
an increase of 0.5% from the prior-year period, in spite of the lower
profit before income tax. The net cash flow from operating activities was
down by 11.7% to EUR 461.0m. The improvement of funds tied up in working
capital was below the prior-year performance. At EUR 6,863.2m as at the
reporting date of September 30th, 2012, EVN's total assets were down 0.1%
compared to the last balance sheet date of the previous year. Equity during
the period under review amounted to EUR 3,013.7m, a drop of 4.8%. As at the
reporting date of September 30th, 2012, the equity ratio fell from 46.1% in
the previous year to 43.9%. The net debt increased by 7.9% to EUR 1,703.7m.
The development of equity and net debt led to an increase of the gearing
ratio from 49.9% to 56.5%.

Expansion of environmentally-friendly generation capacities in focus

Investments during the 2011/12 financial year fell by 25.8% to EUR 308.3m.
The focus was on expanding and modernising the network infrastructure in
Austria and abroad, as well as increasing power generation capacities from
renewable energy sources. With four additional wind parks in Tattendorf,
Glinzendorf and Pöttelsdorf as well as in Kavarna, Bulgaria, EVN possesses
now a total of twelve wind parks with a total capacity of over 190 MW which
provide environmental-friendly electricity for more than 100,000
households. EVN's hydropower capacity has been expanded amongst other by
one rivitalised small-scale hydropower plant in Schaldorf at the River Mürz
and the first part of the Ashta hydropower plant in Albania by about 26 MW
in total. Due to the completion of several biomass plants EVN's market
position as the largest producer of natural heat in Austria has been
expanded. Since December 2011 a new co-generation plant in Plovdiv,
Bulgaria, has been supplying about 33,600 households with heat and also
feeds electricity into the power grid.

Outlook

In spite of the challenging environment, we expect Group net profit in the
2012/13 financial year to be close to the prior-year level. We will
determinedly continue on our defined path, and exploit our strong
operational basis in order to once again be able to assert ourselves in the
marketplace in an above-average manner. We consider our broad customer base
in our domestic market and the high level of customer satisfaction to be an
important success factor.

EVN's Full Report 2011/12 is available at www.investor.evn.at.

End of Corporate News

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Language: English
Company: EVN AG
EVN Platz
2344 Maria Enzersdorf
Austria
Phone: +43-2236-200-12294
Fax: +43-2236-200-82294
E-mail: info@evn.at
Internet: www.evn.at
ISIN: AT0000741053
WKN: 074105
Indices: ATX
Listed: Foreign Exchange(s) Wien (Amtlicher Handel / Official
Market)

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