EDP loses €76 million in the first quarter
The company went from profits of €180 million in 2021 to losses. EDP justifies the numbers with impact of drought and higher energy costs.
EDP reported losses of €76 million in the first quarter, compared to profits of €180 million in the same period last year, the company announced in a statement sent to CMVM.
“EDP’s financial performance in the first quarter of 2022 was strongly impacted by the extreme drought in Portugal in winter 2021/2022, the driest in the last 90 years, which resulted in a record shortfall of EDP’s hydro production in the Iberian market of 2.6TWh compared to the historical average,” justifies the company.
The hydro deficit forced the need to purchase electricity in the Iberian wholesale market, “in order to satisfy the consumption of the customer portfolio”, explains EDP. This purchase was made in a context of historically high prices (average electricity price of €229/MWh, a year-on-year increase of 407%).
“The strong increase in the cost of electricity sold, which did not impact our clients, implied a €0.4bn loss in 1Q22 in terms of EBITDA, which justifies the negative net result of -€76m recorded by EDP in the 1Q22 (a decrease of €256m year-on-year),” the company points out.
EDP’s recurring EBITDA fell 16% to €710 million compared to the first three months of 2021, with a 9% drop in the renewables sector, to 405 million, not being offset by the 17% growth in electricity networks.
The decline seen in the renewables sector is explained by the negative EBITDA of €34 million from dams in the Iberia region. The clients and Energy Management segment in Portugal and Spain also closed the quarter in the red zone: -€105 million.
The company also recorded a 10% increase in operating costs, to €502 million.
EDP’s net debt increased 14% to €13,134 million, “reflecting the conclusion of the acquisitions of CELG-T, in Brazil, and Sunseap, in Singapore”. Gross investments more than tripled in the first quarter, to a total of €2.3 billion.
