EQS-News: E.ON concludes fiscal year with strong earnings and record investments in the energy transition

E.ON concludes fiscal year with strong earnings and record investments in the energy transition

• E.ON remains on growth path and hits its earnings guidance with adjusted Group EBITDA of €9.0 billion and adjusted Group net income of €2.9 billion
• Investments significantly increased by around €1 billion to €7.5 billion; need for network expansion and digitalization remains huge
• Due to a lack of visibility regarding Germany’s future regulatory framework, investments for 2024 to 2028 will generally remain at the previous level
• 2025 guidance: Due to high investments, E.ON projects positive earnings development with adjusted Group EBITDA of €9.6 to €9.8 billion and adjusted Group net income of €2.85 to €3.05 billion
• By 2028, adjusted Group EBITDA expected to exceed €11.3 billion and adjusted Group net income to reach approximately €3.4 billion
• Increasing the dividend to €0.55 per share for 2024 proposed

E.ON remains on its growth path. The company achieved its earnings targets for 2024 in all business segments. With record investments, E.ON again demonstrated its leading role in propelling Europe’s energy transition. The Group expects the systematic implementation of its existing investment program to deliver additional earnings growth for the current year and over the medium term.

Commenting on the previous fiscal year’s results, E.ON CEO Leonhard Birnbaum said: “In 2024, we delivered again. Strong Group earnings prove that our business model is robust even in an environment of political and macroeconomic uncertainty. Our investments of €7.5 billion set a new benchmark for our financial strength and operational performance. Since our reorganization, we’ve never invested so much. For this I’d like to say thank you to our employees. With our investments, we significantly contribute to making new energy work in Europe.” 

Strong Group EBITDA in line with guidance 

E.ON recorded adjusted Group EBITDA of €9.0 billion in fiscal year 2024. Earnings were thus at the upper end of the guidance range of €8.8 to €9.0 billion and, as anticipated, below the high prior-year figure, which was characterized by positive one-off effects (2023: €9.4 billion). Particularly due to investment-driven growth and a strong operating performance, underlying EBITDA increased year-over-year by roughly €600 million. Adjusted Group net income of roughly €2.9 billion (2023: €3.1 billion) was within the guidance range of €2.8 to €3.0 billion.

E.ON CFO Nadia Jakobi commented: “Our strong earnings in fiscal year 2024 fully met our Group guidance, and we made additional operational progress. We worked hard to achieve this success, especially because, in many respects, 2024 was another challenging year. Our record investments played a crucial role in further propelling Europe’s energy transition, while also creating strong value for our shareholders. Both are and will remain our mission.”

Energy Networks’ adjusted EBITDA increased to €6.9 billion (2023[1]: €6.6 billion). E.ON benefited in particular from higher investments in network infrastructure in all European regions. The company again added around half a million new connections to its distribution grids in 2024, thereby connecting customers across Europe to sustainable energy. In Hungary, increased wheeling volume and lower costs for network losses led to an increase in earnings. On the other hand, the non-recurrence of temporary effects recorded in the prior year, mainly related to redispatch costs in Germany, had an adverse effect. Slightly lower-than-planned wheeling volume in fiscal year 2024, primarily from continued subdued economic activity in Germany, also led to a decrease in earnings.

As expected, Energy Retail’s earnings declined. Adjusted EBITDA reached €1.8 billion (2023¹: €2.3 billion). The non-recurrence of positive one-off effects in the mid to high triple-digit million euro range reduced earnings year-over-year. Regulatory effects in the United Kingdom were a particularly noteworthy factor.

In 2024, Energy Infrastructure Solutions’ adjusted EBITDA was in line with the prior-year level at around €560 million. One-off items that positively impacted the prior year's results and lower sales volumes were almost fully offset by investment-driven growth, positive price effects and higher asset availability in the United Kingdom.

Investments in the energy transition again significantly higher 

Last year E.ON continued to accelerate its investments in energy infrastructure and customer offerings. Investments increased by about €1 billion year-over-year to a total of €7.5 billion (2023: €6.5 billion). The majority of investments went toward the Energy Networks business. E.ON invested about €5.8 billion to further expand, modernize, and digitalize its energy networks in Europe. Investments in network infrastructure therefore increased by around €700 million relative to 2023 and by about €300 million compared with the company’s original plans.

Investments in Energy Retail increased by about one quarter year-over-year to roughly €550 million. E.ON continued to digitalize its energy sales in 2024 and enhanced customers’ ability to financially benefit from the energy transition by introducing more flexibility solutions. In particular, investments in IT and eMobility charging solutions were higher than in the prior year.

Investments of just under €1 billion went toward Energy Infrastructure Solutions to make energy more sustainable and more affordable for cities, municipalities, and companies. This represents a year-over-year increase in investments of more than a third. Higher investments were made, among other areas, in the battery storage and smart meter business in the United Kingdom. E.ON also invested in additional decarbonization solutions, in particular to further expand its business with commercial and industrial customers in Germany.

E.ON plans to invest €43 billion between 2024 and 2028; additional investments in network infrastructure would require competitive regulation

Efficient and digitally controllable energy infrastructure is the key to a secure, sustainable, and affordable energy supply in Europe. This is also reflected in the large number of network connection requests. Renewables are expanding, and green power is being used more and more for heat, mobility, and transport. The AI-driven boom in data centers is resulting in additional connection requests in the gigawatt range. In addition, the necessary flexibilization of the energy system is leading to a significant increase in requests for battery storage. E.ON alone currently has connection requests for large-scale storage systems with an aggregate capacity of 100 gigawatts.

“All of this demonstrates that the need for network expansion and digitalization remains huge,“ Leonhard Birnbaum said. E.ON remains committed to its ambitious investment plans. With its updated investment program, the company plans to invest a total of €43 billion in the energy transition for the period 2024 to 2028, of which €35 billion will go toward network infrastructure (previous plan: €42 billion, of which €34 billion were to go toward network infrastructure). The increase is due to the faster depreciation of gas networks. E.ON will use the freed-up funds for valuable new investments in its electricity grids.

Regarding possible additional investments and the regulatory framework this would require, Leo Birnbaum added: “E.ON remains determined to keep investing and thus be the playmaker of the energy transition in Europe. Like any company that operates sustainably, however, we never invest at any price. The prerequisite for this in Germany is a return on our network investments that‘s competitive by international standards. Whether this will be the case for the new electricity regulatory period starting in 2029 is not foreseeable for us today. Therefore, we have decided not to expand our investment program for the time being and to stick to the period of 2024 to 2028 for our outlook.” 

2025 guidance: E.ON anticipates further growth despite challenging environment 

E.ON’s growth strategy again proved to be correct and robust in fiscal year 2024. Despite political and macroeconomic uncertainty, E.ON expects to deliver a positive earnings performance in 2025 and to increase adjusted Group EBITDA to €9.6 to €9.8 billion. At the same time, the Group plans to again increase investments under its existing program compared with 2024 to roughly €8.6 billion. The purpose is to further accelerate the transformation of Europe’s energy system.

E.ON expects Energy Networks to record adjusted EBITDA of €7.4 to €7.6 billion in 2025. The significant increase in earnings compared to the previous year will be primarily driven by additional investments into continuously growing network infrastructure. About €6.9 billion—nearly 80 percent of total investments in the current year—will go toward network expansion, modernization, and digitalization.

Energy Retail’s earnings are expected to slightly decline year-over-year in the range of €1.6 to €1.8 billion. This is mainly due to the normalization of the significantly higher earnings contributions from the business customer sector in the United Kingdom in 2024. E.ON intends to invest about €600 million in the current year in digital platforms, smart eMobility charging solutions, and integrated energy solutions.

E.ON forecasts Energy Infrastructure Solutions’ adjusted EBITDA to be between €550 and €650 million. Increasing earnings contributions are expected, partly due to the commissioning of new projects. Around €1 billion are to be invested primarily in expanding the business in Sweden, Germany and the UK.

E.ON anticipates adjusted Group net income of €2.85 to €3.05 billion for the fiscal year 2025. This corresponds to adjusted earnings per share of €1.09 to €1.17. At the Annual General Meeting, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose increasing the dividend for the fiscal year 2024 to 55 cents per share. This represents a 4 percent increase compared to the previous year and aligns with the company’s commitment to increasing the dividend by up to 5 percent annually.

Medium-term targets raised: significant earnings growth projected by 2028

In view of its business performance, E.ON increases its medium-term financial targets. The company intends to grow adjusted Group EBITDA to more than €11.3 billion by 2028 (former 2028 outlook: more than €11 billion).

Nadia Jakobi commented: “E.ON is in an excellent position to grow profitably in the years ahead. This is reflected both in our strong guidance for 2025 and the improved outlook for 2028. Between 2024 and 2028, we aim to increase our underlying adjusted earnings growth in the high single-digit percentage range each year.”

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group Management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

^[1] Because of changes in segment reporting, prior-year figures were adjusted accordingly..