Bremen, August 28, 2020. Energiekontor AG is continuing its growth course within the Group and increased sales and earnings in the first half of 2020. The restrictions introduced to combat the COVID 19 pandemic only had a minor impact on business. In contrast to this, there have been a number of positive changes in the framework conditions, with the result that the Management Board continues to anticipate a pleasing financial year and confirms its earnings forecast for the 2020 financial year.
Energiekontor AG closed the first half of 2020 at Group level with sales of € 65.0 million (previous year € 36.3 million) and a total output of € 80.9 million (previous year € 44.3 million). The Group EBIT of € 21.8 million (previous year € 11.4 million) and the result from ordinary activities (EBT) of € 15.0 million (previous year € 4.3 million) were far above the previous year's level. Earnings per share improved in the first half of 2020 to € 0.73 from € 0.23 in the same period of the previous year. This means that sales increased by 79 percent, EBT by 245 percent and earnings per share by 232 percent.
Following this convincing first half of the year, we expect the "Project Planning and Sales (Wind, Solar)" segment to achieve a pleasing segment EBT in the low double-digit million range for 2020 as a whole. Following the sale of one wind farm and three solar farms in the first half of the year, we have initiated a number of sales processes and therefore expect to be able to conclude further transactions by the end of the year.
In the segments "Power Generation in Group-owned Wind and Solar Parks" and "Business Development, Innovation and Other", earnings in the first half of the year were slightly above the previous year's level. However, the second half of the year is also decisive for the results in these segments.
Peter Szabo, Chairman of the Board of Management of Energiekontor AG, comments: "Overall, the half-year result is in line with expectations. As the course of business has so far been essentially on schedule despite Corona, we have no reason to change the positive outlook for the year as a whole. “
The fundamental framework conditions, especially in Germany, are and remain challenging. Recently, however, there have been political initiatives that give hope that things could improve in the future:
The Investment Acceleration Act could represent an improvement in the framework conditions for onshore wind turbines. Only practical experience will show to what extent planning and approval procedures can therefore be completed more quickly in future.
The national hydrogen strategy adopted by the German government will fail without a massive expansion of renewable energy capacities. Whether the EEG amendment 2020, which is to be passed by the federal cabinet on September 23 and then come into force on January 1, 2021, will provide decisive impulses for this is not yet foreseeable at the moment. However, it is basically pleasing that the legislator has recognised that it must improve the framework conditions for wind energy onshore if the national climate targets are to be achieved.
The project pipeline in Germany and abroad is being continuously expanded and has now reached a capacity of over approx. 4,600 MW. Projects based on PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) play an increasingly important role in this pipeline. As is known in the market, Energiekontor is a pioneer in the industry and aims to be one of the first to realise wind and solar parks whose electricity production costs are lower than those of the conventional energy industry. "It is precisely project pipelines that are in the interest of many investors. We have just experienced this again in recent weeks," says Peter Szabo pleased.
The complete semi-annual report 2020 is available on the Internet at:
https://www.energiekontor.de/en/investor-relations/financial-reports
About Energiekontor AG:
A solid business policy and a lot of experience in renewable energies: Energiekontor has stood for this for 30 years. Founded in Bremerhaven in 1990, the Company is one of the pioneers in the industry and is now one of the leading German project developers. The core business ranges from planning and construction to the operational management of wind farms in Germany and abroad and was expanded to include solar energy in 2010. In addition, Energiekontor operates wind and solar parks with a rated output of almost 287 megawatts in its own portfolio.
Energiekontor AG is also playing a pioneering role in economic terms and intends to realize the first wind and solar parks in all target markets as quickly as possible at market prices, independent of state subsidies. In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor has offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Bernau near Berlin, Potsdam and Augsburg. The Company also has branches in England (Leeds), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon), USA (Austin / Texas, Rapid City / South Dakota) and France (Toulouse, Rouen).
The proud record since the Company was founded: 126 wind farms and ten solar parks with a total output of over 1 gigawatt. This corresponds to an investment volume of approximately € 1.7 billion. The Company went public on 25 May 2000. The share of Energiekontor AG (WKN 531350 / ISIN DE0005313506) is listed in the General Standard of the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt and can be traded on all German stock exchanges.
Contact:
Investor Relations / Press
Peter Alex
Tel.: +49 421 3304-126
E-Mail: Peter.Alex@EnergieKontor.com