Neoen shrinks 2021 EBITDA forecast after H1 downfall

Neoen's Cestas solar park. Photo by: Neoen (www.neoen.com).

French renewables developer and power producer Neoen (EPA:NEOEN) on Friday reported a 15% year-on-year drop in first-half EBITDA and narrowed the range of its full-year forecast due to commissioning delays at some of its projects.

The company now expects to book earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between EUR 295 million (USD 350m) and EUR 310 million in 2021, against a previous outlook of EUR 295 million-325 million, while EBITDA margin is still seen at around 80%.

The narrowed guidance is based on projections regarding the likely commissioning dates of wind parks that are currently being built in Argentina and Australia, Neoen explained. It noted that the forecast includes net capital gains from expected asset disposals.

During the first half of 2021, Neoen generated EUR 125.9 million in EBITDA. The result was lower than in the year-ago period due to the recognition of liquidated damages and decreased EBITDA in the storage segment. The respective margin fell to 76% from 94% a year back.

In the meantime, consolidated revenues in the six months climbed by 5% on the year, mainly thanks to the contribution of assets that were brought online in 2020 and the first half of 2021. While revenue in the wind and solar segments improved by 13% and 16%, respectively, the result from energy storage activities dropped by 46% due to the absence of specific non-recurring conditions that were present in the year-ago period.

More details about Neoen’s financial results can be seen in the table below.

Amounts in EUR million	H1 2021	H1 2020
Revenue	164.9	157.2
-- from solar	84.9	73.4
-- from wind	66.2	58.8
-- from storage	13.4	24.6
EBITDA	125.9	148.2
EBITDA margin	76%	94%
Operating income	67.7	95
Net income group share	4.5	22

At the end of June, Neoen had 2,711 MW of capacity in operation after bringing online roughly 96 MW of new wind and solar parks in the first half of 2021. Its power plants produced 2,393 GWh in the six months, up 16% year-on-year.

Neoen’s capacity in operation or under construction at end-June stood at 4.8 GW, against 4.1 GW at end-December 2020. The company said it is “very confident” it will reach its target of having over 5 GW in operation or under construction by end-2021.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.187)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!