Greenvolt losses widen by 143% to €19 million in June – Energy

The group Greenvolt posts losses of €19m in H1 2024The company, led by João Manso Neto, announced in a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM). It is a A 143.4% increase in the group's losses, which amounted to 7.8 million euros in the same period in 2023. In other words, compared to the same semester last year, Greenvolt nearly tripled its recorded losses.

According to energy science, These results were affected by several factors: low electricity prices in the UK, and the lack of asset rotation in large-scale projects.With a non-recurring negative impact of €5 million.

“We have reached the end of the first six months of the current year with negative net results, which is in line with our expectations. These results, which also reflect a one-time negative impact, are certain to witness significant growth until the end of the year.” “We expect an improvement in the comparison between 2024 and 2023,” said CEO Manso Neto. This came in a statement, noting that the group is already more than 80% owned by KKR.

The company's income statement for the period from January to June shows that “net profit attributable to Greenvolt, excluding the impact of discontinued operations, amounted to -16.8 million euros and total group net profit amounted to -19 million euros,” the same statement said.

“The results for this period are in line with expectations, as they reflect the investment phase of the group, with around 800 MW of assets under construction and distributed generation operations starting in six countries. There were no asset rotations in the first half of this year and some unforeseen impacts negatively impacted the results,” the company explained, saying that “the growth strategy, based on a progressively more solid financial structure, with KKR controlling more than 80% of the shares, has not changed.”

with regard to Total revenues increased by 42% to EUR 188 million in the first half of 2024, compared to 2023. “Benefiting from strong growth in the large-scale and distributed generation sector, which has resisted the impact of lower electricity prices in the UK, which has impacted the biomass business.”

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was €26.5 million in the first six months of the year (-40% compared to H1 2023), supported by the increase in biomass-generated energy fed into the grid, notably through the Tilbury Green power plant in the UK. In contrast, the lack of asset rotation is penalizing the broad sector, the group acknowledges.

Despite the significant increase in losses. Greenvolt says it is “confident” of improved results in 2024. At stake is the implementation of asset rotations, such as Such as the project implemented in July with the sale of 19 solar projects in Italy for €18.7 million to Nuveen Infrastructure.

“But there are more operations in progress,” Manso Neto confirms. Of the total pipeline of 9.3 GW across 16 geographies, at least 500 MW (200 MW in 2023) will be sold this year. Energy includes, noting that it has ongoing sales of five portfolios, three of which are expected to be completed in 2024. In the first half of 2024, Greenvolt commissioned solar and wind farms in four European countries, with a combined capacity of 302 MW. Total pipeline capacity has increased by 904 MW since the end of 2023, to reach 9.3 GW: 2.1 GW ready for construction; 782 MW under construction; and 305 MW in operation.

In the field of distributed generation, the company is present in 12 geographical regions and is building more than 400 projects, with the number of signed demand contracts reaching 311.4 megawatts.

EBITDA for the Biomass segment was €20.7 million, down 15% compared to the previous year. “We continue to be penalized by the low energy prices recorded in the UK, while in large-scale projects the asset rotation process has not yet been signed, while the distributed generation segment is affected by installation delays due to commissioning,” said João Manso Neto to explain the losses.

However, the person in charge hopes to end the year with improved investments in biomass, both in Portugal and in the UK, where, in addition to the Tilbury Green power plant, The company expects to complete the purchase of the Kent Renewable Energy Plant by the end of 2024.