Better-than-expected accounts and a new five-year industrial plan send Erg shares flying on the Stock Exchange, where it gained 4,5% at €17,93 per share at the start of the session. The board of the energy company has just the 2017 accounts: the year closed with a net profit of 142 million (+32%). In the fourth quarter alone, Erg recorded an adjusted net profit of 28 million euro, while the gross operating margin for the inter-year was 472 million (+4%).
Erg also ended 2017 with revenues of 1,06 billion euros, an increase of 3% compared to the 1,03 billion obtained in the previous year and also the net debt of 1.233 million is lower than the guidance at the beginning of the year, thanks to the significant operating cash flow. The board of directors will propose to the shareholders' meeting an increase in the ordinary dividend to 0,75 euro per share ed an extraordinary dividend of €0,40 per share, equal to approximately 20% of the cash-in deriving from the sale of TotalErg.
"A crucial year for the evolution of the Group which, with the sale of TotalErg and the acquisition of Forvei, definitively exited the Oil sector and at the same time made its entry into the photovoltaic sector", commented the CEO Luca Bettonte. “The operating margin has increased despite 2017 being a decidedly dry and not very windy year, also characterized in wind power by the exit from the incentive mechanism of over 200 megawatts”, explains the manager.
“The generally positive trend in energy prices associated with higher margins in the thermoelectric sector, the contribution of the parks acquired in Germany and constant attention to costs and efficiency in generation have enabled us to obtain very positive results that exceeded expectations, confirming the solidity of our business model” he adds. For 2018, thanks also to the contribution of photovoltaics, "we expect a slight increase in EBITDA to 475 million and net debt of 1.260 million, including investments of around 450 million and the distribution of dividends of around 170 million and taking into account the sale of TotalErg and Brockaghboy Wind Farm".
As for the new plan, Bettonte instead said that “it is a five-year plan focused on overseas growth and technological renewal of our wind fleet in Italy. Industrial excellence, flexibility of our assets and strong energy management skills are the characteristics on which we intend to leverage to achieve the important new plan objectives. In fact, we expect strong development of approximately 850 MW through three different channels: organic development and co-development agreements in Europe, new acquisitions in target countries and a significant repowering & reblading plan for part of our wind farms in Italy".
“The financial resources generated, the high quality of our assets and the flexibility of the organizational structure will allow the group to face the new challenges and seize the opportunities that will present themselves in the near future in a sector, that of electricity, in rapid and constant evolution”, concluded the managing director.
Meanwhile, this morning Erg also sold to the Greencoat UK Wind fund, listed on the London Stock Exchange and specialized in investments in renewables, 100% stake in Brockaghboy Windfarm, a company incorporated under English law that owns the 47,5 MW wind farm built in Northern Ireland, in County Londonderry by Erg ee and TCI Renewables. The enterprise value of the transaction amounts to approximately 163 million pounds (equal to approximately 185 million euro).
