The EDP group closed the first three months of 2024 with profits of 354 million euros, the electricity company said on Thursday in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). This is a 17 per cent increase on the 303 million euros recorded in the same period of 2023.
According to the company, this result was supported by the increased contribution to the quarterly results of the electricity networks in Brazil, following the success of the takeover bid for EDP Brasil, which was finalised in August 2023.
On 8 May, EDP paid its annual dividend for the 2023 financial year, in the amount of €0.195 per share, an increase of 2.6%, representing a dividend payout of 63% on the 2023 net profit, the electricity company said.
In this quarter, EDP invested 1.1 billion euros in renewable energy projects (4.6 GW of capacity under construction). The reinforcement of electricity networks in Portugal, Spain and Brazil accounted for 97% of the total investment.
In terms of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), this fell by 5% in the first three months of the year to 1,341 million euros, "reflecting the performance of the generation and commercialisation business in the Iberian Peninsula, impacted by the lower integrated margin compared to a high level in the same period last year.
By business segment, EBITDA from the electricity networks business in Portugal, Spain and Brazil rose 24% year-on-year to 474 million euros (compared to 381 million), supported above all by the good performance in Brazil, where there was a 51% increase thanks to gains from the rotation of electricity transmission assets.
In the Iberian Peninsula, the increase in the EBITDA of EDP's networks (+3%) was due to the "rise in regulated revenues and efficiency in the management of operating costs", the company said in a statement. The wind and solar segment rose just 1% year-on-year, "supported by gains from renewable asset rotation transactions in North America (58 million euros), but at the same time mitigated by the decrease in renewable energy production due to below-average wind resources, as well as the reduction in the average energy sales price".
For its part, the company's net financial costs fell 9 per cent year-on-year to 236 million, reflecting the decrease in the average cost of debt by 10 basis points to 4.7 per cent. In March 2024 the EDP group's net debt totalled 15.9 billion euros, reflecting the acceleration of investment in renewable energies and electricity networks, as well as the increase in the tariff deficit partially mitigated by the 538 million cash inflow from asset rotation transactions.
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