With the oil prices and above all of gas which have reached historic highs, the energy companies in Italy they are not doing badly, on the contrary, it can be said that they have had their fill of to evaluate after the shock caused by the pandemic. I say so balance sheets with Italian energy companies listed on the Stock Exchange, also because they are the only ones that allow for an understanding of economic trends through quarterly reports.
But what are the profits of energy companies? A detailed snapshot of the numbers is provided by the 2014-2021 Energy Company Financial Statements Report, produced by the Centro Studi Comar, which also provides some forecasts for 2022. Figures that explain the much discussed extra profit tax, and with the Meloni government goes up to 50%. A provision simplified by the fact that they are all publicly controlled companies, but complicated by the fact that they are companies listed on the Stock Exchange. But let's go in order.
Energy companies listed on the stock exchange: what are they and how much are they worth?
Listed energy companies drop from 21 to 20: A2a, That, Afive, Alerion Clean Power, Algowatts, Ascopiave, Ecosuntek, Edison, Enel, Eni, Getting very, Eviso, Falck Renewables, Natural gas Plus, Hera, Iren, Italgas, Saras, Snam e Terna. instead Elettra Investimenti was removed from trading last June.
Their capitalization su the Italian Stock Exchange, at the end of 2021, amounted to 182,3 billion euros, 23,5% of the total capitalization (768,8 billion). At the top of the ranking there was Enel, with a capitalization of 71,6 billion, significantly higher than Intesa Sanpaolo (44,2 billion), the second largest company on the stock market.
But the turbulence recorded by the markets in 2022, between the depression induced by Covid-19 and the energy shock of the Modern era (the third after '73 and '79), caused the capitalization of energy companies to drop, as at 31 October 2022, at 146,8 billion euros, with a decrease of 35,5 billion euros (-19,4%). And Eni managed to oust Enel from first place.
Record turnover and profits in 2021 for energy companies
According to Comar analysis, in 2021, the turnover it broke through the 351 billion with an increase of 60,8% compared to the year of the pandemic, recording a growth of 14,6% compared to the peak reached in 2014 of 306,9 billion. Even the to evaluate aggregates, equal to 16 billion, are more than doubled compared to the pre-Covid period (6,9 billion in 2019) and not even comparable with the losses suffered in 2020 (2,6 billion), in the midst of the pandemic.
A good measure of profitability of energy companies is the net operating margin, which came close to the record of 31,7 billion euros, almost double compared to 15,9 billion in 2020 (+98,6%) and over a third more than the levels of the 2014 (+36,3%).
Between 2020 and 2021, thedebt, which increased from 20,2 billion to 187,6 billion euros, (+12%). This overall stock of debt also increased by 35,2% on the 138,7 billion in 2014; the ratio between financial debt and turnover, after the leap to 76,8% in the year of the outbreak of the pandemic (by a good 20 points more than in 2019), returned to the physiological level of 53,5%.
Earnings boom in 2022: Eni surpasses Enel and takes first place
The trend for 2022, assumed on the basis of data for the first 10 months of 15 listed companies, representing 50-55% of the sector, shows a turnover almost doubled (+99%) to 291,8 billion euros from 146,5 billion in 2021. In the increase in turnover, the Edison (+ 233%), A2A (+ 161,7%), Alerion Clean Power (+ 142,5%), Hera (+ 123%), Saras (+ 105%), Eni (+100%). While the minor increases were recorded in Snam, italgas e Terna (below 10%).
But the turnover does not reflect the real trend, you have to look at the profit. If we look at the profits of listed energy companies, these have more than doubled (+132%) going from 8 billion euros to 18,7 billion, and this thanks to "the companies in the oil sub-sector more than those in the electricity and gas sub-sector”, explains Comar. And here the ranking changes. Saras saw a more than substantial increase, equal to +559%, second Eni with a +472%.
I financial debts, the report points out, have increased up to 25%, “also due to the requests for substantial liquid guarantees to cover purchases on the gas exchanges. A situation of financial stress which is already leading, in some cases, to a reduction in planned investments".
