Statkraft recorded earnings before interest and tax in excess of Nkr17bn in 2019, compared with just under Nkr15bn in 2018, according to its latest results.
Chief executive Christian Rynning-Tonnesen hailed 2019 as delivering the “highest operating result in Statkraft’s history”.
The company ended the year with an EBIT of Nkr17.6bn (€1.75bn), compared with Nkr14.9bn in 2018, while net profit for last year was Nkr11.3bn, lower than Nkr13.4bn in 2018, which included gains from divestments, according to Statkraft.
In 2019, Statkraft saw decreasing average system prices at Nord Pool, which was €39 per megawatt hour, 11% lower than prices in 2018. Generation reached 61.1 terawatt hours, down 1% from 2018.
Statkraft delivered “strong return” on average capital employed with over 16%, while at the same time developing “significant” new renewable energy capacity in Norway, Europe, South America and India, said Rynning-Tonnesen.
In the fourth quarter of last year the company recorded an underlying EBIT of Nkr5.6bn in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of Nkr756m compared to the corresponding quarter. The improvement was mainly due to high contributions from market operations, said Statkraft. Net profit in the quarter was Nkr3.8bn.
Optimising and expanding the hydropower portfolio has been a “key priority” for the developer and several investment decisions were taken in 2019.
Highlights in the quarter included the completion of construction of the 288MW Storheia 94MW Hitra 2 wind farms in Norway as well as full completion of the 23MW Kilathmoy wind farm and a battery project in Ireland. The company also agreed to construct and subsequently divest 100% of the 43MW Windy Rig wind farm in the UK.
Several new power purchase agreements in Spain, Germany and France.
The company said its project pipeline continues to increase placing it “on track” to deliver on the target of developing a portfolio of 6GW of onshore wind and 2GW of solar power by 2025.
In line with the strategy, Statkraft will “continue to expand the product offering” and grow the volume within market operations in Europe and South America. In Norway, Statkraft has entered into new long-term power contracts with Wacker Chemicals, Alcoa and Borregaard, which contribute to stabilise the revenues.