Naturgy boosts ordinary net profit by 30% in H1 2019

Spanish power and gas utility Naturgy Energy Group SA (BME:NTGY) posted EUR 692 million (USD 771.7m) in ordinary net profits in the first half of 2019, up 30% year-on-year, highlighting its own discipline and efficiency as the reason behind the solid performance.

The company’s ordinary earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 8% to EUR 2.28 billion. When taking into consideration extraordinary items related to the implementation of the efficiency plan, reported EBITDA reached EUR 2.15 billion.

Net sales went down by 4.4% to EUR 11.64 billion due to lower energy prices and lower volumes sold in the liberal market.

During the first six months of the year, Naturgy trimmed its net debt by 3% to EUR 14.8 billion while focusing on cash flow generation.

In a year since it launched the 2018-2022 strategic plan, the company has decided to exit some non-strategic businesses and markets. It has agreements in place to sell a 100% stake in the power retail and distribution business in Moldova and a share in the Kangra coal mine in South Africa, among other transactions. In the same period, Naturgy made investments amounting to around EUR 2 billion, 70% of which went to renewable energy and power grid projects.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.12)

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