The fourth time in a row – EnBW presents record result for the first six months

Karlsruhe. EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG remains on course for growth, increasing both sales revenue and earnings once more in the first six months of 2007. According to the six-monthly financial report 2007 published today in Karlsruhe, EnBW raised its sales revenue by 14.9 percent to 7.378 billion euro over the first six months of the year. Owing to the continued overall positive development of earnings, group net profit climbed 26.5 percent to 740.2 million euro.

Prof. Dr. Utz Claassen, CEO of EnBW: “This result for the first six months marks the 14th time in a row that EnBW has returned an accumulated quarterly result during the year at record level in each case. This is the fruit of four years of consistently realigning the company. The structural earnings power EnBW has thus gained is the basis for us to systematically realise the necessary future investments that we have decided to make in networks, power stations and our locations in Baden-Württemberg and continue the positive development of our company on a national and international scale in the future.”

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 5.4 percent to 1.399 billion euro. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 3.2 percent to 1.025 billion euro and earnings from continuing operations jumped 18.3 percent to 684.7 million euro. Earnings before tax (EBT) total 986.7 million euro, which is 3.1 percent above the level of the comparative prior-year period. This means that EnBW has again reached record levels in the company’s history for all key earnings figures – EBITDA, EBIT and EBT – in the first half of 2007. The increase in earnings is due above all to the improved result in the electricity segment and the enlargement of the consolidated group. In the gas segment, however, the mild winter caused a decrease in sales and earnings.

Owing to the significant improvement in working capital, the cash flow from operating activities went up 70.8 percent to 691.2 million euro. The free cash flow was raised by 31.2 percent to 411.5 million euro – and this despite the fact that EnBW increased its capital expenditures by as much as 80 percent to 326.7 million euro in the reporting period.

The continued positive development also extended to the group’s balance sheet composition. “Thanks to the good earnings development, we succeeded once again in raising the group’s equity ratio. It stands at 18.1 percent as of June 30, 2007, after 15.9 percent at year-end 20061 and just 6.1 percent at year-end 2003. Another positive development has been that of the net financial debt. We were able to reduce it further, and it now only stands at 3.446 billion euro as of June 30, 2007”, says EnBW’s CFO Dr. Holzherr.

EnBW acquired shares in Erdgas Südwest GmbH (ESW), Energie Sachsen Ost GmbH (ENSO) and Gasversorgung Sachsen Ost Wärmeservice GmbH & Co. KG (GSWK) in this six-monthly reporting period. The acquisition increases EnBW’s indirect shareholding in ESW by 28 percent to 79 percent, in ENSO by 14.4 percent to 64.8 percent and in GSWK by 76.5 percent to 100 percent. The shares in ESW are held by EnBW Gas GmbH and those in ENSO and GSWK are held by the EnBW subsidiary GESO. By increasing its shares, EnBW has strengthened its position in the key markets Baden-Württemberg and Saxony in pursuance of its growth strategy with a focus on end customers. Also in the reporting period, EnBW sold its shares in the U-plus group to the Berlin-based waste disposal company ALBA GmbH. It is due above all to this sale that the headcount at EnBW decreased by 4.9 percent to 19,293. Adjusted for the deconsolidation effect, however, the number of employees rose by 1.4 percent.