EDP’s net profit drops 22% in H1 2020
With the pandemic weighing on the group's accounts, net profit stood at 315 million euros in the first half of the year.
EDP’s profits fell by 22% in the first half of the year. With the pandemic weighing on the group’s accounts, net profit stood at 315 million euros. Business in Portugal was again negative and losses worsened to 32 million euros, according to the report released this Thursday to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM).
According to the Portuguese company, the decline is explained by “a strong reduction in electricity consumption in its main markets, especially during the lockdown periods imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 that coincided with most of the second quarter. The volume of electricity sold in Iberia fell by 7% whereas electricity consumption by networks’ clients in Brazil decreased by 9%.”
In addition to the effect of the pandemic, the decision to anticipate the closure of the Sines coal plant to 2021 had a strong impact on the company’s accounts, which implied the booking of a one-off cost of 130 million euros (89 million euros after taxes).
EBITDA decreased by 3% to 1,872 million euros, also reflecting “the adverse effect of the exchange rate (-57 million euros due to the 20% depreciation of the real against the euro)”. Net debt remained stable at 14.1 billion euros at the end of June.
Among the various geographies, it was the business in Portugal that weighed in heavily, with a net loss of 32 million in H1, extending two consecutive years of losses in the domestic market.