Performance improved in the first quarter

Karlsruhe. EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG finished the first quarter of 2010 with an improved performance. According to the results published in Karlsruhe today, the group's revenue increased compared to the previous year by 2.2 percent to Euro 4,899.6 million. Electricity sales of the EnBW group increased in the first three months of 2010 by 19.1 percent to 38.0 billion kilowatt hours. The adjusted EBIT, i.e. the operating results before income taxes, financial result and investment result improved in the first quarter of 2010 by 26 percent to Euro 876 million.

"We have started the new financial year positively. As a result of the slightly better, but still fragile economy, the market environment remains difficult, however. We will therefore continue to drive on the optimisation of our core business and our processes," said Hans-Peter Villis, CEO of EnBW.

With a revenue volume totalling Euro 1,218.4 million (previous year: Euro 715.8 million), the electricity generation and trading segment has contributed considerably to this increase in revenue. The growth in revenue in this segment results from the increased sales. This is partly due to the considerably higher generation capacities of EnBW. In the last few months EnBW has increased the generation capacity available to it in Germany by around 2000 MW.

In the electricity grid and sales segment, EnBW had revenues of Euro 2,727.8 million, 1.6 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year. In the gas segment, by contrast, revenues fell by 35.4 percent to Euro 783.2 million. The reason for this was a large reduction in sales and the passing-on of lower gas prices to customers.

Sales from trading activities increased by 11.3 billion kilowatt hours to 19.0 billion kilowatt hours. The electricity volume sold to private customers fell compared to the previous year from 7.1 billion kilowatt hours to 6.7 billion kilowatt hours; electricity sales to industrial customers fell from 13.5 billion kilowatt hours to 12.3 billion kilowatt hours.

Gas sales decreased in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first three months of the previous year from 27.5 billion kilowatt hours to 24.2 billion kilowatt hours. The fall in sales to industrial customers to 17.8 billion kilowatt hours played a significant role here. By contrast, gas sales to private customers in the reporting period increased by 4.9 percent to 6.4 billion kilowatt hours, which was largely due to the colder temperatures compared to the same period in the previous year.

The adjusted EBIT, the operating results before taxes, financial result and investment result increased in the reporting period to Euro 876 billion. This corresponds to an increase of 26 percent. Adjusted for consolidation effects, the adjusted EBIT increased by 23 percent. The neutral EBIT increased in the first three months of this year by Euro 234.9 million to Euro 246.1 million. This result is substantially affected by positive effects from the de-consolidation of the GESO group. This sale led to an increase in the neutral EBIT in the electricity grid and sales segment from Euro 10.0 million to Euro 177.4 million.

Group net profit adjusted for extraordinary effects (adjusted group net profit), in relation to the profit attributable to the shareholders of EnBW AG, totalled Euro 598.2 million in the first quarter. This is an increase of 41 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.

As part of its growth strategy, EnBW is planning net investments totalling Euro 5.1 billion in the period from 2010 to 2012. In the first quarter of 2010, gross investment totalled Euro 530.6 million. Significant investment projects included the construction of the coal-fired power station RDK 8 in Karlsruhe, the new construction of the hydroelectric power station Rheinfelden, the purchase of shares in Kraftwerk Rostock, the construction of a replacement solid-fuel power station in Eisenhüttenstadt, the development of the gas storage in Etzel and the modernisation and expansion of the grids.