Enel closes the first quarter of 2022 with a growing net result, Ebitda and revenues, with a greater quantity of energy produced and sold at increasing prices and with the collection of proceeds from the sale of Ufinet. “A solid quarter“, he is quick to sayCEO and general manager Francesco Starace while the CFO Alberto De Paoli reassures analysts on the consequences of the war in Russia: “As we have already said, we do not buy gas from Russia. Our strategy is based on contracts with other suppliers and as far as LNG is concerned, it comes mainly from the United States. Our needs are met without Russian gas."
Another issue addressed in presenting the quarterly report to analysts is the impact of the extraordinary measures launched by the government on the extra profits generated by the increase in energy prices: "We see a economic impact hitherto negligible due to the absence of extraordinary earnings” De Paoli said again. And he explained: “With the 10% taxation we have recorded an impact of 40 million, now, we have not seen the last decree, but imagining having to account for 25%, the extra 15% would translate into 60 million more, for a total impact in the year estimated at 100 million”.
Enel quarterly growth: here are all the numbers
Revenues for the quarter rose to 34,958 billion euros with a leap forward of 89,1% from the first quarter of 2021. Ordinary Ebitda stood at 4,486 billion (+6,8%) and Ebitda at 4,446 billion (+7,6%)
The Group's net ordinary result rose to 1,443 billion (+18,9%) and the Group's net result to 1,430 billion (+21,6%). Net financial debt rises to 59,130 billion (it was 51,952 billion euros at the end of 2021, +13,8%): the increase is mainly attributable, explains Enel's note, to investments in the period, to the acquisition of Erg Hydro in Italy, the negative trend of operating cash flows and the negative exchange rate effect. Strong growth (+24,5%) in investments in the first quarter which reached 2,533 billion.
“In the first quarter of 2022, the soundness of our business model enabled us to deliver solid results in line with expectations, minimizing the risks deriving from the difficult geopolitical and economic context, also for the protection of our stakeholders”, he comments immediately Francesco Starace which confirms the guidance on Ebitda and net ordinary income for 2022.
The production and sale of electricity and gas rose
Energy sales increased in the first quarter. Electricity reached 79,9 TWh, with an increase of 1,1 TWh (+1,4%) compared to the same period of the previous year. Natural gas sales amounted to 4 billion cubic meters for the first quarter of 2022, up by 0,3 billion cubic meters (+8,1%) compared to the first quarter of 2021.
The net energy produced by the Enel group amounted to 59,2 TWh, an increase of 5,5 TWh compared to the value recorded in the same period of 2021 (+10,2%). In particular, we note: a decrease in production from renewables (-0,8 TWh), as a result of the lower production from hydroelectric sources (-3,2 TWh) due to low water availability in the period. In return. the non-landing of hydroelectric was more than recovered by wind (+1,6 TWh), photovoltaic (+0,7 TWh) and geothermal (+0,1 TWh).
In the period, we also note a greater contribution from thermoelectric sources (+6,1 TWh), due to the increased production from combined cycle plants (+3,2 TWh), coal (+2,1 TWh), fuel oil and turbogas (+0,8 TWh). Nuclear production rose but slightly to 0,2 TWh.
Overall, the share of zero-emission production of the Enel group has reached 57,3%. The long-term goal remains the achievement of Net Zero by 2040, for both direct and indirect emissions.
