EQS-News: E.ON increases investments compared to previous year and reaffirms outlook for 2024

E.ON increases investments compared to previous year and reaffirms outlook for 2024

• E.ON on track: adjusted Group EBITDA of €6.7 billion and adjusted Group net income of €2.2 billion in line with expectations after nine months
• Investments in the energy transition up 20 percent year-over-year: E.ON invested €4.7 billion in the first nine months, thereof €3.6 billion in the Energy Networks business
• About 75 percent of external financing requirements for fiscal year 2024 covered by green bonds; pre-financing for 2025 further expanded
• Full-year guidance reaffirmed: Adjusted Group EBITDA of €8.8 to €9.0 billion and adjusted Group net income of €2.8 to €3.0 billion expected

After the third quarter of 2024 E.ON remains on track to meet its full-year targets. The company is also making good progress in ramping up its investments. E.ON CFO Nadia Jakobi commented: “Our nine-month results again show that we’re executing our strategy consistently and successfully. We invested more in sustainable growth than ever before and once again demonstrated our operational performance. This enables us to reaffirm our financial targets for the full year 2024.”

Earnings performance in line with full-year expectations

As anticipated, adjusted Group EBITDA of roughly €6.7 billion for the first nine months of 2024 was below the high prior-year figure, which was characterized by positive one-off effects (9M 2023: €7.8 billion). Adjusted by these one-off effects, underlying EBITDA increased in the low triple-digit million Euro range owing to investment-driven growth. E.ON’s business performance in the first nine months thus confirms the picture that had already emerged after the first half of the year.

Adjusted Group net income amounted to around €2.2 billion (9M 2023: €2.9 billion) in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024 and was therefore also in line with expectations. E.ON remains on track for the full year and continues to expect adjusted Group EBITDA of €8.8 to €9.0 billion and adjusted Group net income of €2.8 to €3.0 billion.

Energy Networks’ nine-month adjusted EBITDA totaled just under €4.8 billion and was thus almost at prior year’s level (9M 2023*: €4.8 billion). Temporary effects, particularly for redispatch costs in Germany, had a significant positive impact on the prior-year earnings. In addition, the wheeling volume was slightly below plan compared to the previous year. By contrast, higher investments in the growing network infrastructure positively impacted earnings. The start of the new regulatory period for electricity also made a positive contribution to earnings, owing in part to an increase in the regulated asset base despite a reduction in the rate of return on equity.

As anticipated, Energy Retail’s adjusted EBITDA in the first nine months of 2024 declined to about €1.7 billion (9M 2023^*: €2.6 billion). This reflects the absence of one-off effects that had an exceptionally positive impact on the prior-year results. The expected market environment, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands, and the mild weather also contributed to these earnings. By contrast, a reduction in risk provisions for bad debts due to lower wholesale prices, primarily in the United Kingdom, had a positive effect.

Energy Infrastructure Solutions’ nine-month adjusted EBITDA came in at around €350 million (9M 2023^*: around €400 million). This decline is primarily attributable to positive one-off effects in the prior-year period and lower sales volume in 2024.

Growth strategy implemented: E.ON increases investments by 20 percent year-over-year

E.ON further propelled the energy transition in the first nine months of the year by investing significantly more in its three core business areas. The company has invested more than €4.7 billion so far in the current fiscal year. This represents an increase of 20 percent compared with the prior-year level. E.ON continues to plan to invest a total of about €7.2 billion for the full year 2024.

E.ON increased Energy Networks‘ investments by 15 percent to about €3.6 billion (9M 2023*: €3.1 billion). The main focus was on expanding, modernizing, and digitizing the network infrastructure as part of the energy transition.

Energy Retail’s investments rose by more than 40 percent to €390 million (9M 2023*: about €280 million). This was driven by investments to further improve the customer service and digital offerings and the expansion of E.ON’s Europe-wide e-mobility charging infrastructure. Furthermore, E.ON invested in an acquisition in the solar sector in the Netherlands.

In Energy Infrastructure Solutions, investments grew to more than €660 million and were thus about 50 percent above the prior-year level (9M 2023*: about €450 million). The increase is mainly due to the acquisition of a stake in a large battery storage project in the United Kingdom. E.ON is thus pursuing the goal of creating flexibility options for the electricity network of the future. In addition, more investments went toward expanding the smart-meter business in the United Kingdom and solutions to decarbonize the energy supply of business customers in Germany.

Green bonds cover about 75 percent of financing needs for 2024 – pre-financing for 2025 further expanded

Between 2024 and 2028, E.ON plans to invest a total of €42 billion in the energy transition across Europe and thus in a secure, competitive, and sustainable energy system. For this to happen, improving the central regulatory framework and creating a suitable overall regulatory system remain necessary. Investment security for network operators and their investors is essential to achieving the energy transition’s targets, particularly regarding the expansion of network infrastructure.

E.ON successfully issued bonds totaling more than €4.8 billion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024. In the long term, the Group aims for green bonds to cover more than 50 percent of its financing needs. “These bond transactions have enabled us to secure part of our financing requirements for 2025 at an early stage. In addition, we used green bonds to meet about 75 percent of our external financing requirements for 2024. This underlines our ambition to be the playmaker in the green transformation of Europe’s energy sector,” Nadia Jakobi said.

* Because of changes in segment reporting, prior-year figures were adjusted accordingly.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Group Management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to align them to future events or developments.