Stable development of business as basis for investment in growth

Karlsruhe. EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG closed the third quarter with satisfactory operating results, confirming its overall stable business development over the first nine months of the year. Over that period the EnBW group generated adjusted EBIT (result of operations before income taxes, financial result and investment result) of € 1,402.6 million. Adjusted EBIT for the comparative period of the prior year amounted to € 1,367.4 million. This development was primarily attributable to an increase in adjusted EBIT in the electricity upstream segment (generation), which in turn was mainly due to the improved market value of derivatives and better forward contracts. The 23.1% rise in adjusted EBIT in the energy and environmental services segment also made a large contribution towards the slight growth overall in adjusted EBIT. EnBW’s revenue for the period from January to September 2009 remained largely unchanged compared to the prior-year level, increasing by 0.4% to € 11,703.1 million. With a share of almost 80%, the electricity segment accounts for the largest share of revenue within the EnBW group.

Due to the much lower overall economic output this year and the associated drop in demand for energy, the unit sales of electricity in the EnBW group fell by 6.6% to 89.3 billion kilowatt-hours in the first nine months. The decline in demand for energy was primarily attributable to the 20.8% drop in unit sales to industrial customers and redistributors, while unit sales of electricity to retail customers were largely unaffected by the economic development and remained at prior-year level.

Group net profit in terms of the profit shares attributable to the equity holders of EnBW AG dropped by € 69.3 million to € 712.8 million in a year-on-year comparison. This was due first and foremost to higher borrowing costs in view of the considerably higher investments.

“The stable business development in 2009 was and is the basis for our investment in growth. In the first nine months of 2009 we already invested € 2.5 billion more than in the whole of the prior year. This demonstrates how we are pursuing our future-oriented growth programme in a targeted manner. Together with the additional purchase of shares in the Rostock and Bexbach power stations as communicated in October and the electricity procurement rights from the Buschhaus power station, we have thus increased our nationwide generation capacities by more than 1,100 megawatts within just a few months,” says Hans-Peter Villis, EnBW’s CEO.

EnBW consistently continues its strategy of expanding its generation capacity, investing a total of € 3,823.0 million in the first nine months of 2009. Key investments included the acquisition of shares in EWE, in Lippendorf and Bexbach power stations, the acquisition of three onshore wind farms, the joint venture with Borusan Holding in Turkey, the development of offshore wind farms off the German coast of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the construction of the new coal power station in Karlsruhe and of the run-of-the-river power station in Rheinfelden.

“EnBW’s sound internal financing power for its investments is unchanged. The cash flow from operating activities rose in the first three quarters of the fiscal year by 4.5% to € 1,550 million, underlining EnBW’s operating power,” says Dr. Rudolf Schulten, EnBW’s CFO.

In the course of the investment for growth, EnBW also increased the headcount. As of 30 September 2009, it had 20,997 employees (without trainees) – 496 or 2.4% more than as of year-end 2008. This increase is partly accounted for by the fact that the group hired 270 of its trainees on permanent contracts. In addition, 334 new trainees and students started their training at 14 EnBW locations in September this year.