EDP profits up 23% to €180 million

The net results of Portugal’s energy company EDP grew by 23% in the first quarter of 2021 like-for-like on 2020.

The company led by Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade said it had obtained net profits of €180 million between January and March this year.
In this period the EBITDA (profits before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) fell 12% to €864 million on the €980 million registered on the same period in 2020, due to a reduction of 19% in EBITDA for EDP Renováveis (to €445 million, because of the negative impact of the Vortex Polar extreme weather event in the US), and the results of weaker Energy Management (-48%) compared to a much stronger Energy Management in the first quarter of 2020.”
On the other hand, a growth of 31% in EBITDA was registered for the Regulated Electricity Networks, “supported by the acquisition of Viesgo” in Spain.
EDP also revealed that an increase in hydric production on the Iberian Peninsula over the last few months compensated for the fall in renewable production in the US.
After sending the results to the CMVM, in a call with analysts, the EDP CEO Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade confirmed that EDP had “already succeeded in achieving some of the milestones it had set out to reach when it had made public its new strategic plan.
“We have a big pipeline of projects and we see great opportunities in the market,” he said. Just by asset turnover the company managed to net over €300 million by the end of 2021.
As to EDP’s gross margin (receipts), these also fell 11% to €1.3Bn. In the first quarter EDP saw its tax burden fall 26%, from the €155 million paid in the first three months of 2020 to just €114 million in the first three months of this year.
In the call with analysts after releasing the results, Stilwell d’Andrade explained that this was down to a reduction in the value of the Energy Sector Extraordinary Contribution (ESEC): “We have sold hydroelectric assets in Portugal and the contribution is applicable on this. Now Engie will pay the ESEC on the Douro dams.
In terms of gross investment, the electricity company said it had increased this by 52% to €700 million “of which 93% was earmarked for energy transition activities.”
In the first quarter of 2021, “85% of electrical production came from renewable energies, with CO2 emissions reduced by 9% in like-for-like terms, thereby contributing towards the company’s commitment to decarbonisation.”