The sales revenue of Eesti Energia Group in the third quarter amounted to 408 million euros, of which 66% was generated outside Estonia. The Group’s normalised net profit in Q3 was 39 million euros, which is 55% more than last year. The group also increased investments by 61% to 200 million euros. The majority of it was comprised of investments into wind farms by the group’s renewable energy company, Enefit Green.
In the third quarter, electricity prices in the Baltic Sea region fell by 50–80% compared to last year. This also affected the company’s sales revenue, which decreased by 38% year-on-year.
Marlen Tamm, CFO of Eesti Energia, confirmed that despite the decline in sales revenue, the group’s businesses operating under the Enefit brand are gaining significant market share in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and revenue generated abroad accounts for as much as two thirds of the group’s total sales revenue.
‘Our renewable energy solutions have become especially popular in Poland, where sales volumes increased by 42% in the third quarter,’ Tamm said. ‘Poland’s share in the group’s turnover has also increased exponentially, accounting for nearly a quarter of the group’s total sales revenue in the third quarter. In Latvia, the number of our customers exceeded 100,000, making Enefit the second largest market participant in both Latvia and Lithuania.’
Investments in renewable energy are growing
The group’s investments increased in Q3 by 61% compared to last year and reached 200 million euros. ‘Customer confidence allows us to increase investments in wind and solar farms, which will help ensure affordable and eco-friendly electricity in the future,’ Tamm said. ‘Nearly half of the group’s investments – 82 million euros – accounted for Enefit Green’s development investments into wind and solar farms.’
In addition, in Q3 the group invested 26 million euros in the development of a sustainable chemical industry in Ida-Viru County and 46 million euros through the network operator Elektrilevi in the reliability of the grid and the development of connection possibilities for micro-producers. ‘Throughout the year, the group has invested more than half a billion, helping us move towards a sustainable future,’ Tamm added.
Nearly half of electricity was produced from renewable sources
Due to low market prices the group’s electricity production decreased by 62% in Q3 to 569 GWh. Although the production of Enefit Green wind farms increased due to new wind farms by nearly a third (31%), the decrease in electricity produced from biomass caused the group’s renewable energy production to remain at the same level as last year. As a result, the share of renewable energy in the group’s total electricity production increased to 52%. A year earlier, the quarter’s renewable electricity production represented a fifth of total production.
Due to planned repairs, the production volume of liquid fuels in Q3 decreased by 15% to 93 thousand tonnes compared to the same period last year[, but the sales volume increased by 16% to 114 thousand tonnes. In addition, the sales revenue of liquid fuels increased by 23% compared to the third quarter of last year, reaching 37 million euros.|]
Normalised EBITDA, ie pre-depreciation operating profit, of Q3 was 104 million euros, which is 13% more than in the same period last year. The group’s normalised net profit in Q3 was 39 million euros, which is 55% more than last year.
In Q3 of 2023, Eesti Energia contributed more than 71 million euros in taxes and environmental charges. Of that amount, 23 million consisted of various direct taxes and 48 million euros of CO2 emission costs at market price.
Source: energia.ee