PNE has reported a 13% rise in profitability in 2023 but operating profits fell for the wind and solar developer.
EBITDA increased to €39.9m (2022: €35.4m while operating profit (EBIT) totalled €5.7m (2022: €6.2m).
However, with the establishment of its own wind farm portfolio, the PNE Group has created “hidden reserves”, which are not immediately recognisable, the board said.
As a result of the investments in PNE’s own projects, pre-tax profits totalling €208.4m were eliminated at Group level by the end of 2023, of which €31.4m in fiscal 2023 (2022: €42.5m).
PNE chief executive Markus Lesser (pictured) said: “We have delivered and we are moving forward.
“With the ‘Scale up’ strategy, we have initiated the further development of PNE AG into a Clean Energy Solutions Provider in 2017.
“The aim was to broaden the range of business segments, both in terms of technology and of geography.
“We have all achieved or, in some cases, significantly exceeded the ambitious targets we set ourselves for 2023.
“We are very proud of that. This is mainly because EBITDA also reached the upper range of the guidance.
“This was challenging in light of the special market environment.”
After the completion and acquisition of further wind farms, the nominal capacity of the wind farms operated by the Company in 2023 increased from 318.9MW to 369.8MW.
Further wind farms (around 281.3MW in total) are under construction in Germany and France and were taken over into PNE’s own operations.
PNE said it significantly exceeded the objective of the ‘Scale up’ corporate strategy of having 500MW in operation or under construction by the end of 2023.
It added that the company is very optimistic that it will achieve further expansion to 1500MW/MWp under construction or operation by the end of 2027 in accordance with the ‘Scale up 2.0’ strategy extension.
The PNE Group has further expanded its project pipeline, to a total rated output of 19,101MW/MWp (2022: 11,883 MW/MWp).
Wind onshore energy projects accounted for 9177MW (2022: 7587MW), PV projects for 7424MWp (2022: 4296MWp) and offshore wind energy projects for 2500MW.
This is the basis for the further development of the PNE Group, especially in times of scarce areas for the expansion of wind and photovoltaic projects, the company said.
In Italy and especially in Romania, the PNE Group achieved operational success on international markets in 2023.
At the end of the year, the PNE Group in Italy sold a package with a total of 12 PV projects and a total output of 114MWp to an infrastructure fund.
In the middle of the year, the PNE Group in Romania sold a package of five projects to the French energy group.
The PV systems have a combined output of 208MWp. In addition, at the end of 2023, a PV project with an output of 61.5MWp was sold to a local company in southern Romania.
In the coming years, the PNE Group wants to continuously expand its own generation portfolio of wind farms and PV plants and increasingly become an independent power producer (IPP).
This is based on the long-standing core business, which is the project development.
Lesser added: “We are making good progress with the implementation of the further development of the ‘Scale up 2.0’ strategy.
“The growth course has been set and the defined targets are achievable. We are motivated to meet the challenges that lie along our path.
“The necessary changes in the organization have begun. The project pipeline has reached another record high. So our foundation for the future is there.
“In fiscal 2024, as in previous years, PNE will have further upfront expenditure in the low single-digit million range for the strategic expansion of the business model.
“We expect Group EBITDA of €40m to 50m in respect of our guidance for the 2024 fiscal year.”