French energy giant Engie said Thursday it was “sure” by 2023, after posting strong first-quarter results in its strategic activities, particularly renewables, despite falling prices and energy consumption. gas.
Engie announced a 29.8% increase in its operating profit (Ebit), which amounted to 3.8 billion euros in the first quarter, excluding nuclear, after 2.9 billion in 2022 for the same period.
Out of the total of its activities, its turnover increased by 14% compared to the first quarter of 2022, up to 29.2 billion euros, the group reported in a press release.
“Our integrated model has once again demonstrated its ability to take advantage of favorable market conditions,” CEO Catherine MacGregor was quoted as saying in the press release.
“Given the strong performance recorded in the 1st quarter”, the group says it is “confident” for 2023 and confirms its annual profit target “which should be in the upper half of the range of 3.4 to 4 billion euros,” said Pierre-François Riolacci, deputy chief financial officer, during a call with reporters.
“Strategic Priorities”
The “most” of the activities contributed to the quarterly growth of the group, summarized the executive, specifying that, from now on, Engie -historically focused on gas- will communicate on its non-nuclear performance, to “better reflect its strategic priorities”. The renewable energies. first.
The operating yield of +29.8% therefore excludes its nuclear activities in Belgium, whose operating profit fell by 33% following the shutdown of two of the seven reactors operated by Engie, successively in September 2022 and last March. January.
On the contrary, the group is taking full advantage of the boom in its renewable activities with an operating profit of more than 35.4%, thanks to “better volumes in hydroelectricity”, “higher” electricity prices and the commissioning of new capacities, especially in wind power. force.
“The activity had 5.5 GW of projects under construction as of March 31” -more than 70 projects-, “in line with the objective of adding 4 GW of renewable capacity on average per year between 2023 and 2025”, detailed the CFO.
Ocean Winds, the Engie and EDPR joint venture dedicated to offshore wind energy, announced “several achievements in April”, including the final investment decision for the Ile d’Yeu and Noirmoutier offshore wind farms, with a total capacity of around of 500 MW, and Dieppe-Le Tréport (almost 500 MW), in France, as well as the financial closure of the Moray West offshore wind farm (500 MW), Scotland.
Soft and sober effect
Growth was also significant in energy supply and risk management solutions (GEMS), which posted operating income of €1.6 billion, up €980 million compared to the first quarter of 2022. At that time, Engie had to record provisions due to the risk of a disruption in Russian gas deliveries after the start of the war in Ukraine.
This good performance partly offset the group’s losses in its energy trading activity, which was affected by the drop in gas prices and the drop in consumption. The operating result of these “retail” activities plummeted 71.1% to 89 million euros in the quarter. The group, in fact, has resold at lower prices the gas that it had bought in large quantities and at high prices in 2022, in a context of a mild winter.
To a lesser extent, Engie experienced a 4.8% decrease in its results in its gas infrastructure activities, due to a “decrease in volumes distributed in France” due in particular to “lower gas consumption”.
At a time when the gas reserve filling campaign is in full swing, Engie says it is “confident for next winter with storage levels of 43% in France on May 3 compared to 33% the same hour” 2022, said Pierre-François Riolacci. . “Our teams continue to mobilize to secure our supplies,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
