REN reports Q1 net profit of €4.5M, up €200,000 on year earlier

  • Lusa
  • 14 May 2021

Portugal's energy grids operator reported a first-quarter net profit of €4.5 million, up €200,000 on the same period of last year.

REN – Redes Energéticas Nacionais, Portugal’s energy grids operator, on Friday reported a first-quarter net profit of €4.5 million, up €200,000 on the same period of last year, in a statement released via the country’s Securities Markets Commission (CMVM).

According to the company, growth in net income was thanks to a positive contribution from financial results, with net costs down €2.9 million at €10.8 million, reflecting lower average cost of debt (from 1.8% to 1.6%), and a lower special energy levy (CESE), adding €1.1 million to the result.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) totalled €114.4 million, down 3.8% on the year. The drop was due, according to REN, to a €2.5-million reduction in remuneration from the regulated asset base, while operating expenses increased as maintenance costs rose €1.4 million, of which €1.1 million related to “work for rural fire protection and corridor reforestation”.

The company also mentions that the result from international business shrank by €1 million.

The results statement recalls that REN issued €300 million in ‘Green Bonds’ with a maturity of eight years, for which demand it said was “five times greater than supply”.

Electricity from renewable sources accounted for 78.7% of the total supply, while consumption was little changed and natural gas consumption decreased by 2.4TWh, “consistent with the higher electricity production from renewable sources,” the company notes.