AB “Ignitis grupė” (hereinafter “the Group”) publishes its half-year report for the first half of 2024, attached to this announcement, and announces that the Group’s Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 289.7 million (+14.3% year-on-year). Growth was driven by better results in the Green Capacities and Networks segments, and the Green Capacities segment remains the largest contributor, accounting for 46.4% of our total Adjusted EBITDA. The Customers & Solutions segment’s B2C electricity activities continued to be loss-making (-EUR 18.5 million).
Our investments amounted to EUR 422.3 million (+4.9% year-on-year), of which 63.8% were in the Green Capacity segment and 87.8% in Lithuania. Investments in Green Capacity reached EUR 269.6 million (+15.2% year-on-year), with the majority going to new onshore wind farms in Lithuania.
The Group’s leverage metrics remained strong, with the FFO LTM/net debt ratio at a solid level of 32.0% (compared to 29.4% as of December 31, 2023). In addition, S&P Global Ratings affirmed the Group’s credit rating of ‘BBB+’ (stable outlook).
Business development
In the first six months of 2024, we increased our green capacity portfolio to 7.7 GW (from 7.1 GW) and our installed capacity to 1.4 GW (from 1.3 GW). Our secured capacity was 2.9 GW.
We have achieved a number of key milestones in expanding and developing our Green Capacities portfolio, including the following:
– together with our partner CIP, we won the second seabed site (Liivi 1) in the Estonian offshore wind tender and consider the site as a natural extension of the Liivi 2 seabed site (secured in December 2023);
– Silesia WF I (50 MW) in Poland has achieved COD;
– The Vilnius biomass cogeneration plant has reached its full COD value (71 Mwe, 170 MWth);
– Tauragė Solar Park (22.1 MW) in Lithuania has achieved COD;
– the first wind turbine was installed in the largest wind farm under construction in the Baltics at Kelmė WF I & II (300 MW) in Lithuania;
– we have secured land for the development of hybrid projects (314 MW), i.e. we plan to build wind farms close to our Latvian solar projects;
– we have secured grid capacity for our first BESS projects (
In the area of networks, we have submitted the updated 10-year investment plan (2024-2033) to the regulator (NERC) for public consultation and vote. The plan foresees a 40% increase in investments to €3.5 billion (from €2.5 billion previously submitted in the period 2022-2031). In addition, the total number of smart meters installed has exceeded 900,000.
In the Customers & Solutions area, we are continuing to expand the charging network for electric vehicles in the Baltics and have now installed a total of 655 charging points for electric vehicles (+279 since December 31, 2023).
sustainability
Our “green share” of electricity generation amounted to 84.8% (-7.7 percentage points year-on-year), due to proportionally higher electricity generation in combined cycle power plants (reserve capacities).
We reduced our Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 41.9%, while our Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions increased by 19.2% and 5.9% respectively compared to 6M 2023. Total emissions amounted to 3.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (+14.4% YoY). This increase was expected and is mainly due to an increase in out-of-scope (biogenic) emissions from the operation of the Vilnius Biomass Plant (the plant reached full COD in May 2024).
The carbon intensity of our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions decreased to 256 g CO2 equivalent/kWh (-28.6% year-on-year), due to lower Scope 2 emissions and higher electricity generation from renewable energy.
No fatal accidents were recorded. Our TRIR for employees was 1.00 and our TRIR for contractors was 0.21, both well below the target threshold. Our eNPS remained high at 66.5.
Shareholder returns and 2024 outlook
In line with our dividend policy, we propose to pay a dividend of EUR 0.663 per share, corresponding to EUR 48.0 million, for the first six months of 2024. This is subject to the decision of our Extraordinary General Meeting on September 11, 2024.
Due to our strong performance, we are increasing our 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance to EUR 450-480 million (from EUR 440-470 million). Our capital expenditure guidance remains in the range of EUR 850-1,000 million.
Key financial indicators (APM1)
|
in million EUR |
6M 2024 |
6M 2023 |
Change |
|
Adjusted EBITDA |
289.7 |
253.5 |
14.3% |
|
Green capacities |
134.5 |
109.1 |
23.3% |
|
Networks |
115.7 |
88.7 |
30.4% |
|
Reserve capacities |
25.2 |
32.2 |
(21.7%) |
|
Customers & Solutions |
11.8 |
21.7 |
(45.6%) |
|
Other activities and eliminations2 |
2.6 |
1.9 |
36.8% |
|
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
26.6% |
18.3% |
8.3 ppp |
|
EBITDA |
294.2 |
239.9 |
22.6% |
|
EBITDA margin |
26.9% |
17.5% |
9.4 ppp |
|
Adjusted net profit |
164.6 |
150.1 |
9.7% |
|
Net profit |
168.4 |
155.8 |
8.1% |
|
Net profit margin |
15.4% |
11.4% |
4.0 ppp |
|
Investments |
422.3 |
402.6 |
4.9% |
|
Green capacities |
269.6 |
234.0 |
15.2% |
|
Networks |
135.8 |
161.9 |
(16.1%) |
|
Reserve capacities |
0.5 |
1.3 |
(61.5%) |
|
Customers & Solutions |
7.8 |
2.1 |
271.4% |
|
Other activities and eliminations2 |
8.6 |
3.3 |
160.6% |
|
FFO |
225.4 |
161.7 |
39.4% |
|
FCF |
(105.0) |
50.2 |
n/a |
|
Adjusted ROE LTM |
13.5% |
14.2% |
(0.7 ppp) |
|
ROE LTM |
15.0% |
15.9% |
(0.9 p.p.) |
|
Adjusted ROCE LTM |
10.4% |
11.3% |
(0.9 p.p.) |
|
ROCE LTM |
11.6% |
13.0% |
(1.4 ppp) |
|
Basic earnings per share |
2.33 |
2.15 |
8.4% |
|
30 June 2024 |
31 Dec 20203 |
Change |
|
|
Net debt |
1,411.0 |
1,317.5 |
7.1% |
|
Net working capital |
113.7 |
175.2 |
(35.1%) |
|
Net debt/adjusted EBITDA LTM, times |
2.71 |
2.72 |
(0.4%) |
|
FFO LTM/Net debt |
32.0% |
29.4% |
2.6 ppp |
1 All measures, except net profit, are alternative performance measures (APMs). Definitions and formulas of the financial indicators can be found on our website.
2 Other activities and eliminations – include consolidation adjustments, transactions with affiliates and the financial results of the parent company.
Conference call on quarterly results
In connection with the announcement of the results for the first six months of 2024, an results conference call will be held on Wednesday, 14 August 2024, at 13:00 Vilnius time or 11:00 London time.
To participate in the conference call, please register at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/go/Ignitis6M2024results/
There is also the option to join the conference call by phone. To access the dial-in details, please register here. Once registration is complete, you will receive the dial-in details on screen and by email. You can dial in using the numbers provided and the unique PIN, or by selecting the “Call me” option and providing your phone details so that the system will automatically connect you when the conference call starts.
Any questions may be directed to the Group’s Investor Relations team in advance after you have registered for the quarterly results conference call or live during the conference call.
Presentation slides will be available prior to the conference call:
https://ignitisgrupe.lt/en/reports-and-presentations
The interim report including fact sheet (in Excel format) is available for download at:
https://ignitisgrupe.lt/en/reports-and-presentations
For further information please contact:
communication
Arturas Ketlerius
+370 620 76076
[email protected]
Investor information
Aine Riffel-Grinkeviciene
+370 643 14925
[email protected]
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