Lithuania's Ignits posts higher Q1 earnings as green fleet expands

Pomerania wind farm. Image by: Ignitis Group.

Lithuanian renewables-focused utility Ignitis Group (VSE:IGN1L), or AB Ignitis Grupe, last week booked an 18.6% year-on-year increase in first-quarter (Q1) adjusted EBITDA thanks to its expanded green power generation capacity, among others.

The group recorded adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR 91.9 million (USD 112.1m), which also benefited from improved performance at the flexible generation unit and higher distributed volumes in the networks business segment. In the green generation segment, in particular, the company’s earnings were helped by the commissioning of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) waste-to-energy plant in Vilnius.

“We progressed significantly during the first three months of the year. We implemented financial and strategic objectives of the Group in various business segments,” said CEO Darius Maikstenas.

The table below provides more information about the group’s financial performance in the first quarter.

Figures in EUR million, unless otherwise noted	Q1 2021	Q1 2020
EBITDA	87.9	62.1
Adjusted EBITDA	91.9	77.5
Adjusted EBITDA margin	23.1%	22.8%
Net profit	37.1	22.1
Adjusted net profit	45.5	42.4
Investments	28.2	62.4

During the reporting period, the Lithuanian company added 42 MW of green generation capacity to its fleet, thus expanding it to 1,120 MW.

In view of the first-quarter results, Ignitis Group reiterated its adjusted EBITDA forecast of EUR 300 million-310 million for 2021. The expected growth of 3%-6% on the year is seen on the back of the CHP contribution, the full-year operations at the Kaunas CHP plant and the commissioning of the 94-MW Pomerania wind park in Poland in May.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.219)

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