AES Andes' H1 2021 bottom line hit by decarbonisation, gross profit spikes

South American power company AES Andes SA reported a USD-266.3-million (EUR 225.5m) loss of attributable earnings for the first half of 2021, after having to recognise significant impairment of assets for committing to close thermoelectric power plants in Chile.

In the same period a year ago, the company posted a USD-137.7-million attributable profit.

On the operating side, AES Andes recorded a gross profit of USD 619.1 million, up by 125% year-on-year, and a revenue growth of 34% to USD 1.49 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the six-month period arrived at USD 688.4 million, rising by 86% on the year, AES Andes said in its earnings report.

The Santiago-based AES Andes directs operations in Chile, Argentina and Colombia for US group AES Corp (NYSE:AES).

Key figures from the three markets are presented in the table:

AES Andes has continued to reduce the share of coal and fossil fuels in its generation portfolio in favour of renewables, either through early retirement or sale of its coal-based capacity.

The company is currently building over 1 GW of renewables in Chile and Colombia. In Chile, construction of most of the projects will be finalised by the end of 2021.

In Colombia, AES Andes’ 61-MW San Fernando solar project is expected to reach commercial operation date in 2021, the company said.

At present, AES Andes operates over 5 GW of diverse generation assets across Chile, Colombia and Argentina.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.847)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!