Erg had a good quarter: the Ligurian energy group recorded an adjusted group net profit of 65 million compared to 53 million in the first quarter of 2020. The adjusted consolidated EBITDA (gross operating margin) was instead equal to 161 million euros, compared to 156 million in the same period last year. The performance, achieved despite the difficulties associated with the pandemic, even allows the Garrone company to revise upwards the guidance for 2021: EBITDA forecast +10 million euro, now in a range of 490-510 million; investments increasing in the range now between 285-325 million, to include a major acquisition in Sweden. In reality, it is precisely the entire strategic plan to 2025 that relaunches its objectives: Erg in fact reiterates a major commitment to renewables, with +1,5 GW of installed power in the period, for which total investments of 2 billion are envisaged. From a financial point of view, the group is betting on an Ebitda of 550 million in 2025, with a stable annual dividend of 0,75 euros per share.
Erg's commitment to the ecological transition is also expressed through an important agreement with Tim, communicated precisely together with the quarterly financial statements. The two companies have signed the largest long-term agreement in Italy for the supply of energy produced from renewable sources. The agreement has a ten-year term and provides for the supply of 3,4 terawatt hours (TWh) of green energy from Erg's wind farms. “Based on the agreement – explains a joint press release – Erg will sell clean energy to Tim at a defined price, optimizing the risk profile of the investment on its assets. At the same time Tim, through this agreement, will cover approximately 20% of the company's energy consumption through renewable sources, reinforcing its commitment to pursuing the objectives of eco-efficiency and use of renewable sources on which the group's strategy is based”.
“We are very satisfied with the agreement – he commented the new CEO of Erg Paolo Luigi Merli, who has just replaced Luca Bettonte -, in fact a partnership, consistent with one of the main directions of the Business Plan, which envisages the evolution towards an infrastructural-type model to reduce the volatility of revenues. This agreement, in addition to stabilizing the sales prices of a part of our generation portfolio from renewable sources, enhances the innovative reblading project, at the forefront both from a technological point of view and, now, also from the point of view of methods of energy sales”.
“We are proud of this agreement – he added Tim's CEO Luigi Gubitosi – because it allows us to achieve not only strategic ESG objectives for the company but also for the community. On the one hand, in fact, we diversify our energy supply sources, stabilize costs and reaffirm the company's strong commitment to the use of renewable energy in the medium-long term. On the other hand, we confirm TIM's commitment to support the national plan for the energy transition: in fact, with this operation we will contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and generate benefits for the environment”.
