Ad Hoc: VERBUND Results for quarter 1/2013: Solid results in a difficult environment

The operating business was positively impacted in quarter 1/2013 by a good water supply. The run-of-river power plants’ hydro coefficient of 1.20 was 20.0% above the long-term average and 1 percentage point above the previous year’s figure. Generation from the annual storage power plants increased considerably (+8.8%). Thus, generation from hydropower increased by 3.5%. In contrast, generation from thermal power plants decreased by 9.1%. Overall, VERBUND’s own generation in quarter 1/2013 was up 1.9% over quarter 1/2012.

However, the declining level of wholesale prices for electricity as a whole negatively impacted the earnings trend as did the continued difficult economic situation for gas power plants. Thus, EBITDA decreased by 10.5% to €312.3m and the operating result fell by 17.6% to €233.7m.

The Group result decreased significantly by 40.3% to €77.1m. This can be attributed in particular to the negative contribution of Italian Sorgenia, primarily impacted by an impairment loss recognised for its 39% equity-accounted interest in Tirreno Power S.p.A. The resulting effect on VERBUND’s profit or loss in quarter 1/2013 totalled €–38.4 m.

Outlook for the full year

For financial year 2013, we plan to increase the dividend and pay a total of €1/share. This is based on successful completion of the asset swap with E.ON, the profits from which we will share with our shareholders. On the basis of average own generation from hydropower, we expect EBITDA for financial year 2013 to amount to approximately €1 billion. The year-to-date water supply in 2013 supports this outlook.