Spain's Elecnor sees Q1 profit down 4.1% due to COVID-19

Spanish infrastructure builder and concessionaire group Elecnor SA (BME:ENO) said its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of 2020 totalled EUR 20.8 million (USD 22.5m), down 4.1% year-on-year, affected by the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on operations in the final two weeks of March.

Net revenues were down by 2.5% to EUR 486.1 million, 93% of which were collected by Elecnor’s infrastructure business line, while the rest came from concessions, the group said in its financial report on Friday.

Pre-tax profit arrived at EUR 30.6 million compared to EUR 32.3 million recorded a year back.

The company does not expect a uniform impact of the COVID-19 emergency on its two business lines. Much of the assets it builds or operates under a concession are considered essential activity in Spain or strategic for the countries in which Elecnor runs its business. Assets that are under construction could be hit with delays, but Elecnor does not forecast these would affect expected profitability significantly.

The group operates 5,740 kilometres of power transmission lines in Chile and Brazil and has a hand in 1,483 MW of renewable energy assets in operation or under construction in Spain, Brazil and Canada.

Elecnor said activities in the infrastructure business had been showing “clear signs of growth” until the state of emergency was declared in Spain in mid-March. During the first quarter, the company was building wind farms at home for local renewable energy firms Greenalia SA (BME:GRN) and Forestalia Renovables SL.

Progress on projects abroad that will get under construction this year will depend on the crisis management measures taken by local governments, Elecnor added.

The company has access to enough financing lines to secure liquidity during the current crisis and is evaluating operating expenses to cut discretionary costs, it said.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.08)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!