E.on's Renewables H1 EBIT grows on capacity additions

Arkona offshore wind farm. Image by: E.on (www.eon.com).

Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) at the Renewables division of German utility E.on SE (ETR:EOAN) reached EUR 275 million (USD 308m) in the first half of 2019, rising by 16.5% year-on-year.

The company said this growth was mainly due to capacity additions in both on- and offshore wind, which resulted in increased power generation. However, lower energy prices in the UK and the expiration of Italian incentives had a negative impact on earnings.

Owned generation in the six months was up by 0.4 billion kWh to 8.2 million kWh. E.on’s fleet enjoyed favourable wind conditions in many parts of Europe, in contrast to the US where it experienced weak winds.

The table shows how E.on’s Renewables unit performed in the first half of 2019.

Results in USD million	Q2 2019	Q2 2018	H1 2019	H1 2018
Sales	329	340	807	741
Adj. EBITDA	160	149	466	396
Adj. EBIT	64	65	275	236
Power sales (in billion kWh)	4.4	4.1	9.9	9.2

E.on’s CEO, Johannes Teyssen, said the company was confident that its planned takeover of Innogy will obtain EU approval as planned and be closed in September. Under the complex asset swap transaction, the Renewables segment is to be sold to German rival RWE AG (ETR:RWE). The company has been reporting it as discontinued operations with effect from June 30, 2018.

E.on as a whole reported an adjusted net profit of EUR 885 million for the first half of 2019, down by 16% on the year. Its adjusted EBIT fell by 12% to EUR 1.72 billion, while sales were up 5% to EUR 16.1 billion. It still expected adjusted net income in 2019 to be between EUR 1.4 billion and EUR 1.6 billion, with an adjusted EBIT of EUR 2.9 billion-3.1 billion.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.12)

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