Bremen, 31 March 2023 - SDAX-listed Energiekontor AG (ISIN DE0005313506), one of Germany's leading project developers and operators of wind and solar parks, has closed the 2022 financial year extremely successfully despite a challenging market environment. The 2022 annual report published today by Energiekontor shows sales revenues of around €187.6 million (2021: €156.5 million) and total output of around €255.7 million (2021: €266.3 million) as a result of the successful operational business development. EBIT came in at €80 million (2021: €61,7m). Earnings before taxes (EBT) rose significantly year-on-year to €62.9 million (2021: €44.9 million). Group earnings reached €44.5 million (2021: €36.2 million) and was thus almost 23 percent above earnings of the previous year. Energiekontor thus once again exceeded the record earnings of the year 2021. Basic earnings per share consequently increased to €3.18 (2021: €2.54). The Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of €1.00 (2021: €0.90) at the Annual General Meeting on 17 May 2023.
"Energiekontor succeeded in strongly increasing its annual earnings in the 2022 financial year despite a challenging market environment. The record earnings of the previous year were exceeded once again. All three of the Company's core segments contributed to this extremely pleasing result. The 2022 annual earnings shows that we are excellently positioned strategically and at the same time agile and flexible as a company in order to react quickly to market changes and consistently exploit opportunities as they arise," says Peter Szabo, CEO of Energiekontor AG. "We achieved key milestones in the 2022 financial year and laid the foundations for our future growth. With the growth strategy "2023 - 2028", we have also set ourselves ambitious but achievable goals. Starting from the base year 2023, for which we had issued a target Group EBT of €55 to €60 million as part of our 5-year strategy "2018 - 2023", we want to achieve a doubling of Group EBT within five years by the end of 2028," Peter Szabo continued.
Development of earnings in the segments - "Power Generation" segment with particularly strong increase
In the 2022 financial year, a total of seven wind power projects in Germany and the UK as well as one solar park project in Germany with a total generation capacity of almost 100 MW were successfully sold. In addition, eleven wind and solar park projects with a total generation capacity of almost 100 MW were commissioned in the reporting period. At the end of the reporting period, a further 10 wind and solar parks were under construction. Segment EBT from "Development and sales" reached €28.4 million. The segment EBT from "Power generation in Group-owned wind and solar parks" increased strongly to almost €30.0 million. The main reasons for this were a better wind year 2022 compared to the previous year as well as the transfer of further wind and solar parks into the Group's own portfolio according to plan. Overall, the generation capacity in the own portfolio thus increased to almost 384 MW (2021: around 330 MW). As usual, the transfer into the own portfolio was carried out at pure production costs. As a result, the hidden reserves held in the Energiekontor Group also increased. The assumption of further operational management mandates and higher electricity generation due to improved meteorological conditions contributed to an increase in the segment EBT from "Operation development, innovation and others" to €4.5 million.
Project pipeline increased to over 10 GW (+1.7 GW yoy) – share of solar business expanded as planned
In the 2022 financial year, the valuable project pipeline was again expanded significantly by around 1.7 GW to over 10.2 GW (2021: 8.5 GW) compared to the previous year. Increases were recorded in almost all of the different phases of project development as well as in the addressed country markets. More than 1.8 GW of the project pipeline is already in an advanced phase of project development and thus forms the basis for short- and medium-term growth. Technological diversification was also expanded as planned. The share of projects in the solar sector amounts to about one third.
Optimistic outlook for 2023: Continuation of the growth path
For the current financial year 2023, the Management Board is optimistic that Energiekontor will be able to continue on its growth path. Nevertheless, market uncertainties and risks have increased, not least due to the war in Ukraine, the further impact of which on the global economy and the renewable energies sector cannot be assessed at the present time. At the same time, the global change of political course and the efforts to massively expand renewable energies in the coming years offer further market opportunities for Energiekontor. Against this backdrop and based on current planning, the Management Board is aiming to increase Group EBT in the 2023 financial year by 10 to 20 percent compared to the previous year.
Growth strategy "2023 - 2028" - doubling of Group EBT to €120 million.
In the 2022 financial year, Energiekontor's Management Board issued the "2023 - 2028" growth strategy and began implementing it. The goal is to sustainably increase Energiekontor's Group EBT by an average of 15 percent per year in the period from 2023 to the end of 2028 based on the proven organic growth model. Starting from the base year 2023, for which Energiekontor had issued a target Group EBT of €55 to €60 million as part of the 5-year strategy "2018 - 2023", the Group EBT is thus to be increased to around €120 million by the end of 2028. This would correspond to a doubling within five years. Assuming successful implementation of the growth strategy, this would result in a possible realisation potential of projects with a total generation capacity of approximately 3 to 4 GW by the end of 2028. While maintaining the 50/50 transfer ratio of realised projects to the own portfolio, this also results in an imputed potential to increase the total generation capacity in the own portfolio to a total of 1.5 to 2.0 GW in a five-year period.
Dividend proposal: €1.00 (2021: €0.90)
In view of the positive development of the 2022 financial year, the Supervisory Board and Management Board plan to submit a dividend proposal of €1.00 per share to the Annual General Meeting on 17 May 2023.
Annual Report 2022
The annual report for the 2022 financial year was published today. It is permanently available on the Company's website at www.energiekontor.de/en/investor-relations/financial-reports.
About Energiekontor AG:
A solid business policy and a lot of experience in renewable energies: This is what Energiekontor has stood for for over 30 years. Founded in Bremerhaven in 1990, the Company is one of the pioneers in the industry and is now one of Germany's leading project developers. Its core business ranges from the planning and construction to the operational management of wind and solar parks in Germany and abroad. In addition, Energiekontor operates wind and solar parks with a nominal output of over 380 megawatts in its own portfolio. Energiekontor AG also aims to play a pioneering role in economic terms and to realise the first wind and solar parks in all target markets at market prices as quickly as possible, independently of state subsidies.
In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor has offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Augsburg, Bernau near Berlin, Potsdam, Berlin-Spandau and Hildesheim. The Company also has offices in England (Leeds), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon), USA (Houston/Texas and Rapid City/South Dakota) and France (Toulouse, Rouen).
The track record since the Company was founded: 139 realised wind farms and 14 solar parks with a total output of almost 1.3 gigawatts. This corresponds to an investment volume of over 1.8 billion euros.
Energiekontor AG (WKN 531350/ISIN DE0005313506/General Standard) is listed on the SDAX of the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt and can be traded on all German stock exchanges.
Contact:
Energiekontor AG
Till Gießmann
Head of Investor & Public Relations
Phone: +49 (0)421 3304-126
E-mail: till.giessmann@energiekontor.com
www.energiekontor.de