German wind farms developer PNE Wind AG (ETR:PNE3) on Wednesday reported a net profit of EUR 17.1 million (USD 21.2m) for 2017, down from EUR 69 million a year before, but said it is “well positioned to meet the challenges of the future.”
The company’s operating result, or earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), went down to EUR 23.1 million from EUR 97 million in 2016, while surpassing the EBIT guidance for the year. In January, PNE Wind said full-year EBIT was expected to be at the upper end of its guidance of between EUR 17 million and EUR 23 million. In its financial report it explained that the figures for 2016 were “extraordinarily positive” due to the 80% sale of a 142-MW wind farm portfolio, the remaining interest in which was unloaded in 2017.
Revenues in the past year dropped to EUR 114.1 million from EUR 248.6 million in 2016 when the divestment of an 80% stake in PNE WIND Partners Deutschland GmbH was recorded.
In 2017, the German company completed, started construction of or sold project rights to 233.6 MW of wind farms in Germany, France, Sweden and the US. Project rights for an offshore wind farm of 584 MW were also sold last year.
PNE Wind is aiming to become a “clean energy solution provider” by incorporating hydrogen, wind, solar, storage and power-to-gas technologies under its umbrella as part of a plan which it says will “make it possible to better balance fluctuations in the operating business in individual markets in the future.” In spite of the so-called Scale up business expansion strategy, project development will remain PNE Wind’s core business. “This includes the development of quality projects, the build-up of a new wind farm portfolio with approximately 200 MW by the end of 2020 and projects across various technologies as well as other services,” CEO Markus Lesser noted.
For 2018, the company expects EBIT of between EUR 10 million and EUR 16 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR 20 million-26 million.
At the start of the year, PNE Wind had 51.9 MW of wind farms under construction in Germany, France and Sweden.
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.239)
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"Courtesy of PNE WIND AG"
