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Financial strategy

Secure profitability, solid investment grade ratings, increasing group value

Investment highlights

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  • EnBW is the only German utility active in the entire energy value chain
  • EnBW is driving the energy transition in its entirety
  • Highly robust business model based on balanced portfolio

Integrated utility with a diversified business portfolio

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  • SBTi approved EnBW’s CO2 reduction targets
  • Coal exit brought forward to 2028
  • Climate neutrality in 2035 by offsetting the remaining residual emissions

Ambitious climate action targets

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  • Low-risk business profile from regulated grids and renewable energies
  • Stable cash flows
  • Attractive risk-return profile

High share of stable, low-risk business

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  • Financial policy geared towards credit investors' needs and protecting solid credit ratings
  • Dedicated asset liability management for long-term provisions
  • Diversified funding and prudent liquidity management using state-of-the-art systems and tools

Prudent financial policy

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  • Natural hedge between EnBW’s competitive business areas sales and generation
  • Supply contracts closed on a back-to-back basis
  • Generation margins locked in for up to 3 years in advance for cash flow predictability
  • Long-term PPAs for high cash flow visibility

Hedging of merchant earnings for up to 3 years in advance

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  • State of Baden-Württemberg and OEW (an association of counties) holding more than 93% of share capital
  • Most of the remaining shares are held by other municipal shareholders’ associations in Baden-Wuerttemberg
  • Shareholder structure reflects EnBW’s roots in Baden-Wuerttemberg, one of the economically strongest regions in Europe

Stable government-related shareholder structure

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Financial management

Foundations

  • Management of financial transactions within the Group finance department in order to minimise risk, optimise costs and increase transparency
  • Deployment of derivates in the operating business generally for hedging purposes only: for example, for forward contracts for electricity and primary energy source trading
  • Interest rate risk management for managing and monitoring interest-sensitive assets and liabilities / Interest rate risk strategy to limit the risk of interest rate changes for the Group
  • Currency management system to monitor foreign exchange risks

Objectives

  • Payment obligations can be fulfilled without restriction
  • Balanced financing structure
  • Solid balance sheet ratios
  • Solid investment grade ratings
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Positive creditworthiness of high importance

To maintain the future viability of the company, EnBW aims to hold solid investment grade ratings, in order to

  • ensure unrestricted access to capital markets
  • offer reliable opportunities for financing partners
  • be regarded as a dependable business partner in our trading activities
  • achieve the lowest possible capital costs
  • implement an appropriate number of investment projects

Further Information

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Key performance indicator for creditworthiness management

The central goal of the EnBW 2025 strategy is to increase adjusted EBITDA to €3.2 bn. As it will not be possible to exclusively finance this growth phase using funds from our internal financing capability, we will manage the financial profile from 2021 using the debt repayment potential.

2021 to 2025: Debt repayment potential¹

0 %

Controlled growth during the further development into an infrastructure partner

Retained Cashflow / Net debt

¹ To maintain solid investment-grade ratings, EnBW regularly checks the 2025 target value for the debt repayment potential for managing its financial profile.

Financing strategy

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Management of financing needs of operating activities separately from the Group’s pension and nuclear obligations

  • Managing financing needs of operating activities
    • Constant assessment of capital market trends with regard to
      • current interest rate environment
      • any potentially favourable refinancing costs
  • Coverage of pension and nuclear obligations using asset liability management model
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Alongside the internal financing capability, we have various financing instruments at our disposal:

Financing instruments as of 30.09.2023

Programme
Value0Rounded figures
Programme
Value0Rounded figures
€10.0 bn, thereof €6.8 bn utilized
Programme
CHF bonds0CHF 410 m, converted as of the reporting date of 30 September 2023
Value0Rounded figures
€0.4 bn
Programme
US private Placement0Issued 9 November 2022; €860.95 m equivalent (€400 m, US$270 m, £168 m, converted as of the reference date of 9 November 2022)
Value0Rounded figures
€0.9 bn
Programme
Subordinated bonds
Value0Rounded figures
€2.5 bn
Programme
Value0Rounded figures
€2.0 bn, undrawn
Programme
Promissory notes
Value0Rounded figures
€0.5 bn
Programme
Sustainable syndicated creditline
Value0Rounded figures
€1.5 bn, undrawn; maturity date: 20270Term until the end of June 2027 after exercise of the second extension option for a further year
Programme
Commited bilateral credit lines
Value0Rounded figures
€3.6 bn, thereof €0.3 bn utilized
Programme
Uncommited bilateral credit lines
Value0Rounded figures
€1.5 bn, undrawn
less more
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Other sources
  • Project financing and EIB loans, including a €0.6 bn EIB loan to finance our He Dreiht offshore wind farm
  • In addition, subsidiaries have other financing activities in the form of bank loans and promissory notes
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Overview of EnBW’s bonds

Maturities of EnBW’s bonds

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Asset Liability Management Model

Management of financing needs for pension and nuclear obligations
as of 30 June 2022

Objectives
  • Ensuring timely coverage of the pension and nuclear obligations
  • Coverage of long-term provisions by corresponding financial assets within an economically reasonable period

Core concept of the model
  • Cash flow based model
  • Determining the effects on the cash flow statement and balance sheet over the next 30 years taking into account
    • Anticipated return on financial assets
    • Sector-specific appraisals by external experts on costs for nuclear decommissioning and disposal
    • Actuarial reports on pension provisions
  • Limiting the impact of payments for the pension and nuclear obligations on the operating business to €360 million a year (plus an inflation supplement) by taking funds from the financial assets
  • After fully coverage of the considered provisions by the financial assets, no further funds will be taken from the cash flow from operating activities
Investment targets
  • Portfolio strategy considers planned withdrawal of funds from the financial assets
  • Broad diversification of the asset classes
  • Risk-optimised performance in line with market trends
  • Reduction of costs and simplification of administrative processes

Corporate strategy

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Sustainable infrastructure partner

Our business portfolio is positioned in three segments:

  • System Critical Infrastructure
  • Sustainable Generation Infrastructure
  • Smart Infrastructure for Customers

The main goal of our EnBW 2025 strategy is to develop a balanced and diversified business portfolio along the entire value added chain via these three growth fields. Our portfolio is also characterized by a high proportion of stable, regulated business and an attractive risk-return profile.

As part of the EnBW 2025 strategy, adjusted EBITDA was planned to increase to €3.2 billion by 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was already €3.3 billion in fiscal year 2022. In line with our current planning, we also expect to exceed the earnings target.

Total investments 2023-2025

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Capital expenditure 2021-2025:

We plan total capital expenditure of some €12 billion. 80% of this will be on growth projects. The expenditure is to be financed out of retained cash flow and also, if necessary, by borrowing. We continue to aim for a balanced financing structure, a solid financial profile and therefore solid investment grade rating.

Main focuses:
  • Grid expansion
    Key projects include the SuedLink and ULTRANET transport networks that are critical for Germany’s future energy supply, and investment in electricity distribution grids to upgrade them and prepare them for the needs of electric mobility.
  • Expansion of renewables
    Including completion of the EnBW He Dreiht offshore wind farm by 2025
  • Further evolution of smart infrastructure for customers
    Including broadband, telecommunications and electric mobility

Click here for further information on our Corporate strategy.

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Climate neutrality by 2035

By 2035, we will reduce the company's CO₂ emissions to net zero. In doing so, EnBW will stick to the requirements and targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.

SBTi EnBW CO₂ reduction targets approved. Further information: www.sciencebasedtargets.org

Phase-out of coal/fuel switch:

We intend to fully phase out coal-fired power generation by 2028. Some of our power plants will be switched over initially to natural gas and then to green gases – especially hydrogen – from the middle of the 2030s. As a result of this fuel switch from coal to natural gas at our power plants, we will be able to reduce specific carbon emissions by up to 60 percent and guarantee the security of the electricity and district heating supplies. In addition, these fuel switch projects will contribute significantly to preserving existing power plant sites and associated jobs.

Climate-neutral gases and hydrogen:

While we are initially planning a fuel switch to more climate-friendly gas, we then aim to switch over in a second stage to climate-neutral gases such as biogas or hydrogen. We anticipate that the switch to these climate-neutral gases will be possible by the middle of the 2030s as they become widely available.

Using green electricity:

Using green electricity will be especially relevant for offsetting the line losses in Scope 2. These are physical energy losses in the electricity grid during the transmission and distribution of electricity.

Offsetting:

We fundamentally support the principle of reducing emissions rather than offsetting them. We plan to offset any unavoidable residual emissions with the support of climate change mitigation projects (excluding the supply chain) that are carried out according to the highest standards, such as those defined by the Gold Standard Foundation.

Other instruments:

A series of measures to avoid smaller carbon emissions (e.g., in canteens, buildings) are also planned. However, these emissions only account for around 2 percent of the total emissions at EnBW.

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Further information on climate neutrality can be found here.