EnBW customers will be affected by the gas surcharge. Otherwise, the group would probably have to cut its forecast because of the high procurement costs. Doubling the income alone is apparently not enough to achieve the goal.
The energy group EnBW is struggling because of the gas supply cuts in Russia with sharply increased procurement costs and, unlike its competitor RWE, will fall back on the planned gas surcharge. “The situation is not comparable,” said CFO Thomas Kusterer. RWE said it was not affected by the Russian gas cuts.
EnBW with the gas trading subsidiary VNG, on the other hand, had already suffered losses of almost 550 million euros in the half-year due to the gas situation. High procurement costs contributed to the fact that the Karlsruhe-based company posted a 3.7 percent decline in the operating result (adjusted Ebitda) to 1.42 billion euros in the first half of the year.
The result in the area of ??energy networks (systemic infrastructure) was burdened by costs for the network reserve. According to the announcement, reserve power plants had to be used more often and at significantly higher costs. In the customer business (sales), sharply increased procurement costs for electricity and gas put pressure on the result. In the area of ??renewable energies, however, the contribution to earnings increased significantly, primarily due to better wind conditions, higher market prices and the commissioning of new solar parks.
Sales, on the other hand, grew by a good 114 percent to 27.12 billion euros. The consolidated profit attributable to EnBW shareholders was almost 564 million euros. In the same period of the previous year, a loss of almost 163 million euros was incurred – the main reason for this at the time was depreciation of 700 million euros.
Despite the uncertainties, the group is sticking to its earnings forecast for the current year. An operating result of around EUR 3.03 to 3.18 billion is expected. That would be an increase of two to seven percent compared to the previous year. Because so far not even half of this goal has been achieved, more should be earned operationally in the second half of the year – for example by passing on costs.
With the levy, the federal government wants to relieve gas importers, municipal utilities and other suppliers who have to pay large sums for the replacement gas because of Russia’s supply cuts. The costs are to be passed on to all household and industrial customers. The amount of the levy is to be published on Monday. Against the background of bubbling profits, RWE had announced that it would bear the additional costs itself.
The upheavals on the electricity and gas markets have also fueled calls for an extension of the nuclear phase-out. So far, the three remaining reactors in Germany, including the EnBW reactor Neckarwestheim 2, are to be shut down at the end of December. EnBW considers the possibilities for continued operation to be technically limited. “We assume that our Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant will be shut down at the end of the year. We are preparing accordingly,” said Kusterer.
First, however, the result of the stress test on security of supply must be awaited. With the current fuel rods, continued operation beyond 2022 is only possible for a few weeks. The group has been preparing for the closure of its kiln since 2011. That is why the fuel elements have burned down relatively far.
