EQS-News: Quarterly result of PNE AG: Guidance for 2024 still confirmed

Corporate News

 Quarterly result of PNE AG: Guidance for 2024 still confirmed

• Project pipeline slightly increased despite the sale of the US business
• Reduced wind supply, interest expenses and weather-related delays in commissioning are driving down results
• Project sales in October kick off a strong fourth quarter

Cuxhaven, 7 November 2024 – For PNE AG, the 2024 fiscal year is going well in operational terms. The stable pipeline, a large number of projects under construction, successfully completed tenders and project sales in October are paving the way for a successful full year.

However, this good operating performance is not yet reflected in the result for the first three quarters of this year. For the first nine months of 2024, the Group reports a total output of euro 210.9 million (prior year: euro 156.9 million), revenues of euro 77.6 million (prior year: euro 75.7 million), and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of euro 6.2 million (prior year: euro 16.5 million). Consolidated profit of euro -49.1 million (prior year: euro -24.9 million) includes interest expenses of euro 19.8 million from subsequent valuations of interest rate swaps and credit liabilities in the Group (prior year: euro 6.2 million). These effects do not affect liquidity nor reflect the operating performance of the PNE Group. The basic earnings per share amounted euro -0.64, previous year euro -0.33.

The reason for these corporate figures is mainly a reduced wind supply, which resulted in less electricity production, delayed commissioning of own wind farms due to supply bottlenecks and unfavourable weather conditions, and a financial result that was negatively impacted by IFRS valuation. In addition, the expected lower electricity prices compared to the previous year had a negative impact on earnings.

“The results for the first nine months are not as we expected them to be. Nevertheless, we are confident for the fourth quarter and thus for the full year,” says Per Hornung Pedersen, CEO of PNE AG. “The last three months of the year are characterized by strong winds. In addition, we completed the sale of the Papenrode projects in Germany and Sallachy in Scotland at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In the international markets, we expect several milestone payments from previous project sales in the last quarter. The fourth quarter will therefore be a strong quarter in terms of earnings. We will achieve the planned result for the full year with a significant improvement in key figures as of 31 December compared to 30 September 2024.”

Wind and photovoltaic (PV) project pipeline stable despite the sale of the US business

Overall, the nominal capacity of the pipeline for wind and PV projects increased slightly from 17,527 megawatts (MW) to 17,768 MW compared to the same period of last year. We achieved this increase even though 2,118 MW of the project pipeline left in the first half of the year due to the sale of the US business. The pipeline of offshore wind projects increased slightly from 8,820 MW to 9,178, while the pipeline of offshore wind projects is well populated with 2,500 MW. The pipeline of PV projects dropped slightly from 6,207 MWp to 6,090 MWp.

High construction activity and numerous other permits

As of 30 September 2024, wind farms with a nominal capacity of approx. 288.6 MW were under construction in Germany and in France. Moreover, In the first nine months of 2024, the PNE Group received permits for seven wind farm projects in Germany with a total output of around 119.4 MW and for four PV projects in Poland, Romania and South Africa with a total of 325 MWp.

Expansion of internally operated portfolio the priority

The wind farm portfolio operated by PNE had a capacity of around 412 MW at the end of the third quarter (prior year: 348 MW). The wind farms of the PNE Group produced 485 GWh of clean electricity in the first nine months of this year (prior year: 421 GWh), saving the environment 365,000 tons of CO₂ emissions (prior year: 317,000 tons).

With their electricity production, the wind farms of the PNE Group make an important contribution to climate protection and independent energy security. Generating electricity in PNE’s own wind farms and PV plants is an important pillar of our corporate strategy.

The service business continues on track for success

The expansion of the service business also contributes to further increasing the share of steady earnings. In the first nine months of 2024, the PNE Group was able to expand its international business of operations management as well as technical inspections and tests with additional services. The order volume managed in operations management increased to over 2,980 MW (prior year: 2,800 MW). The order books for 2025 and following years are still well populated.

Guidance confirmed

“We confirm the guidance for the 2024 fiscal year with positive EBITDA for the Group in the range of euro 40 to 50 million,” says Per Hornung Hornung Pedersen. “We continue to be confident that we will achieve this goal.”

The PNE Group's quarterly statement for Q3 2024 is here:
https://www.pnegroup.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Finanzberichte_ENG/2024/20241107_EN_PNE_9M_2024_gesch.pdf

About the PNE Group

The internationally operating, listed PNE Group is included in the SDAX as well as the TecDAX. For more than 30 years, it has been one of the most experienced project developers in the field of onshore and offshore wind farms. The focus is on the development of wind energy and photovoltaic projects worldwide as well as on electricity generation with its own wind farms. Its portfolio covers all project planning phases, from site investigation and the implementation of the approval procedures, through financing and construction, to operation and repowering. As a clean energy solutions provider, the PNE Group also offers services for the entire life cycle of wind farms and photovoltaic plants. The PNE Group is a sought-after partner to industry for solutions for the refinement of electricity via power-to-X technologies.

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