EDP ​​profit rises 21% to €428 million

EDP ​​closed the first quarter with profits of 428 million euros, an increase of 21% compared to the same period last year , the electricity company announced this Friday.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) grew 6% to 1.4 billion euros. Excluding the exchange rate impact, mainly due to the 13% devaluation of the Real against the Euro, operating profit grew 8%, according to the statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

This performance is explained by the company led by Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade “with the expansion of activity in terms of renewable installed capacity (+13%), electricity produced (+5%) and electricity network asset base in the Iberian Peninsula (+2%), as well as the rise in electricity prices in the USA and in the Iberian market which more than compensated for the absence of gains from asset rotation in the first quarter of this year”.

Stilwell d'Andrade says he does not foresee a “material impact” on second-quarter results due to the blackout.

Although there is still no final estimate of the impact of the widespread cut in electricity supply on April 28, which in the following days forced the national grid manager (REN) to cut imports from Spain, the person in charge does not believe that it will have major consequences on the electricity company's results.

“Based on the information we have, we do not expect this to have any material impact” on the accounts , said the manager in response to questions from analysts during the conference call as part of the presentation of the results.

“Today, we still don’t have an estimate of the impact, but I would probably divide it into two parts: the day of the blackout, when there was no power, and the division of the market, on the days when there were no imports from Spain. But now there is a flow of energy between the two countries and we hope that this situation will be normalized in the next few days,” he said.

Interconnection capacity between Portugal and Spain was resumed on Thursday, May 7, but limited to 1,000 MW in the import direction at least until Monday, May 12, according to a notice published on the REN – Redes Energéticas Nacionais website.

Since the power outage on April 28, Portugal has not imported electricity from Spain, a measure adopted as part of the process of stabilizing the electrical system.

( News updated at 10:22 am with statements from Miguel Stilwell about the impact of the blackout )