The pandemic leaves its mark on Enel accounts which, however, strengthened in the second quarter and at the halfway point of the first six months show a sharp acceleration in investments, which grew by 16,3%. The data for the six months were presented on Thursday afternoon with the Stock Exchange closed: Ebitda decreased by 10,7% to 7,7 billion; the net result goes to 2,3 billion (-4,4%) and the ordinary net income reaches 1,77 billion.
I total revenues amounted to 29,853 billion (-10,6%), "a change mainly attributable to thermoelectric generation and trading activities, due to lower trading activities in Italy, as well as the negative exchange rate effect in Latin America, only partially offset by higher revenues from the activities of Enel Green Power and the Final Markets as a result of the higher quantities sold”, specifies the note from the group.
Investments, it was said, rose to 4,813 billion (+16,3%), leading the way financial debt net to 50,418 billion (+11%), an increase to be connected also with the acquisition of a further stake in Enel Americas.
Francesco Starace, CEO and general manager of Enel, confirms “the targets for the end of the year in terms of ordinary Ebitda and ordinary net income, as well as the dividend per share guaranteed equal to 0,38 euro per share, up 6% compared to the previous year. In the second quarter of the year – he says – the group's performance recorded a solid and visible acceleration, bringing the main operating values back to the pre-Covid level”. The data referred to by Starace concern ordinary Ebitda of 4,2 billion, up 3,7% on an annual basis and Ebit increased by 28,7% to 1,8 billion. But above all the income statement closed with a net profit of 602 million (-14% vs 700 million in 2Q 2020). For the current year, the Enel group expects an ordinary Ebitda of between 18,7 and 19,3 billion euros and a net ordinary income between 5,4 and 5,6 billion.
“In the first half year – adds the CEO – we continued with our significant industrial growth based on sustainability and technological innovation, recording a 16,3% increase in investments and an acceleration of installed renewable capacity in the period, which will allow us Of set another record at the end of the year bringing the new installed capacity to 5,8 GW”.
Coming to the industrial data, the electricity sales increased by 8,4% to 105,8 TWh. The production of electricity from renewable sources largely exceeded that from thermoelectricity, reaching 59,8 TWh (+6,5%), compared with production from thermoelectric sources equal to 38,3 TWh (+13,1%). Currently, 64% of Enel's electricity production is zero emissions.
During the presentation to analysts, Francesco Starace then denied that there is a delay in the closing for the sale of Open Fiber to Macquarie and Cdp: "We are working to close in these two days"., therefore by the end of July. Responding to a question, the CEO then stated that "in the United States let's go ahead with the M&A scouting activity, we need to find the right offers. I admit that so far perhaps we have focused more on Latin America, an area that has required a lot of attention”. Finally, to those who asked him if an IPO was in the pipeline in Latin America, Starace replied that “In every market we are in, we have the opportunity to launch an IPO, such as in Brazil for example; it can be a good idea but we must always talk to our shareholders first” in South America.
