A 2018 to remember for Falck Renewables, the Italian group that produces energy from renewable sources. "2018 closes with unprecedented results that are part of a positive growth trend of the Group, constant in recent years", commented the CEO Toni Volpe, after the Board of Directors approved a net profit more than doubled since 2017, from 19,8 to 44,2 million euros, and revenues up 16% to 336 million. Important news also for EBITDA, on the rise to 191,5 million euros (+28,2%) compared to 149,4 million euros in 2017, and for the dividend, proposed to improve by 19% to a good 6,3 cents per share.
The net financial position, without the fair value of derivatives, decreased to 509,2 million euro compared to 538,1 million euro as at 31 December 2017 due to higher investments; while that including the fair value of derivatives, is equal to 547,2 million euros as at 31 December 2018 (584,5 as at 31 December 2017). The NFP/EBITDA Ratio it turned out to be the lowest ever, equal to 2,9 times in 2018, a sharp reduction compared to 3,9 times in 2017. As regards instead the 2019 guidance, confirmed the EBITDA at 184 million euros and the net result attributable to the group above 30 million euros, with a net financial position (including fair value of derivatives) to approximately 737 million euro.
“This year's results show strong growth and have largely exceeded the Group's expectations thanks to the increase in electricity production, the average increase in energy prices and shares in the management aimed at improving plant efficiency and improving the cost profile”, writes a note to justify the excellent performance, while at the end of the session in Piazza Affari the stock gains one and a half percentage points approaching 3 euros per share.
Satisfactory results also from an industrial point of view, with production which grew by 7% compared to 2017, above all thanks to the increase in perimeter (+112,5 MW) and wind conditions in Italy (+25 GWh). In detail, the annual production of electricity amounted to 2.187 GWh compared to 2.043 GWh in 2017, mainly due to the greater installed capacity. The main changes by sector are as follows:
wind: The revenues generated by the sector amounted to 238,9 million euros, up by 10,2% compared to 2017, thanks to the significant increase in electricity prices of +15% in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, +2% in Spain. The increase in revenues was partially reduced by the 0,9% devaluation of the pound against the euro with reference to production in the United Kingdom and by the decrease in energy sales prices in Italy (-5%, including the incentive component) . In France the mechanism of tariff feed it neutralized the price fluctuation (+1%). The annual production of electricity amounted to 1.812 GWh compared to 1.789 GWh in 2017.
Waste to Energy, Biomass and Photovoltaic: The revenues of the sector amounted to 67,8 million euros with a growth of 12,3% compared to 2017, due to the effect of (i) the increase in production deriving from the greater solar production capacity (equal to 9,4 million euros) partly offset by the planned (biennial) shutdown of the hybrid plant at Rende and the decrease in the quantities of waste treated, due to an accidental shutdown of the waste-to-energy plant at Trezzo sull'Adda and (ii) the increase in waste transfer prices (+20%), partly offset by lower electricity transfer prices, including the incentive component, down compared to 2017 respectively by 15% for WtE plants, 5% for biomass and up 3% for solar plants in Italy.
Services: The revenues of the sector, made up of the Spanish group Vector Cuatro and the Energy Team group (the latter consolidated starting from 3 October 2018), show growth of 66,2%, to 20,1 million euros compared to the previous year mainly due to increased facility management services in Italy and the UK and the consolidation of Energy Team SpA
Other activities: The revenues of the segment (currently made up of Falck Renewables SpA, Falck Renewables Sicilia Srl, Falck Renewables Sviluppo Srl and Falck Renewables Energy Srl) amounted to €33,1 million, showing an increase of €30,4 million, essentially due to to the energy sales business of Falck Renewables Energy Srl which operates under theEnergy Management (based on the defined at Group level), activity which includes, inter alia, dispatching, management of imbalances, sale and risk hedgingcommodity, potentially for all sectors of the Group.
