The Board of Directors of Enel S.p.A., chaired by Michele Crisostomo, met today to review the preliminary consolidated results for 2022.
“The preliminary results for 2022 demonstrate the resilience of the Enel Group, which, thanks to the robustness of its integrated business model, achieved ordinary EBITDA of 19.7 billion euros, exceeding the guidance communicated to the financial markets, despite the adverse geopolitical, energy and economic environment while at the same time shielding our end customers from the energy price shock generated by the gas crisis,” said Francesco Starace, Enel Group CEO.
“Furthermore, thanks to efficient financial management and the execution of the strategic plan presented to the markets, the Group’s net financial debt was significantly reduced in the last quarter of the year and will continue to decrease substantially during 2023 as well, further strengthening our financial solidity. This will enable us to continue to execute on our investments in renewable generation and grids in order to support the transition to increasingly sustainable energy sources and promote energy independence in the countries in which we operate.”
Revenues amounted to 140.5 billion euros, an increase of 54.8 billion euros (+63.9%) compared to the 85.7 billion euros achieved in 2021. The change is mainly attributable, in a context of increasing average prices, to higher volumes of energy produced and traded, to higher volumes sold (mainly in Italy and Spain), to tariff adjustments in Brazil, to higher volumes of electricity distributed in Latin America, as well as to positive exchange rate effects.
Revenues for 2022 include the non-recurring income deriving from the sale of the transmission business in Chile, equal to 1.1 billion euros, as well as the ordinary income deriving from the partial sale of the equity interests held in Ufinet and in Gridspertise and from the sale of a number of companies to Mooney Group S.p.A., while revenues for 2021 included the ordinary income, equal to 1.8 billion euros, realized from the sale of the stake held in Open Fiber S.p.A.
Ordinary EBITDA amounted to 19.7 billion euros, an increase of 0.5 billion euros compared to 2021 and exceeding the Group’s guidance communicated to the financial markets of 19.0-19.6 billion euros. Net of the effects deriving from Stewardship management which led, in 2021, to the recognition of the capital gain for the sale of the stake held in Open Fiber S.p.A. (1.8 billion euros) and, in 2022, of the proceeds from the partial sale of the equity interests held in Ufinet, Gridspertise and from the sale of a number of companies to Mooney Group S.p.A. (for a total of 0.8 billion euros), ordinary EBITDA is up by approximately 1.5 billion euros compared to 2021. This positive result was achieved thanks to the performance of the integrated margin (1.4 billion euros) as a result of the combination of the Thermoelectric Generation and Trading, Enel Green Power, End-User Markets and Enel X businesses, together with the positive performance of Enel Grids.
Specifically, the improvement in the margin resulting from thermal generation and from trading activities compensated the significant decrease in hydropower production, linked to the low water availability recorded in Italy and Spain during the year, and made it possible to offset the negative change, on end-user markets in Europe, connected to higher sourcing costs not fully passed on to customers. Furthermore, the increase in Ordinary EBITDA was affected by the positive performance of grids, mainly in Latin America, as a result of tariff adjustments and exchange rate developments.
EBITDA, which includes the effects of non-ordinary items , amounted to 18.8 billion euros (17.2 billion euros in 2021, +9.3%).
Net financial debt at the end of 2022 totaled 60.1 billion euros. The increase from the 51.7 billion euros recognized at the end of 2021 (+16.2%) reflects financial needs for capital expenditure in the period, the payment of dividends, the acquisition of ERG Hydro S.r.l. and the negative effect of exchange rates associated with the conversion of debt into foreign currency. Compared with September 30th, 2022, net financial debt significantly declined, reflecting the positive cash flow generated by operations, the partial reabsorption on net working capital of the effects of a number of government measures, the disposal of assets, mainly in Russia, Chile and Brazil, as well as the positive exchange rate developments in the last quarter of 2022.
Employees at the end of 2022 numbered 65,124 (66,279 at the end of 2021).
In 2022, the Enel Group generated a total of 227.8 TWh of electricity (222.6 TWh in 2021), distributed 507.7 TWh on its grids (510.3 TWh in 2021) and sold 321.1 TWh (309.4 TWh in 2021).
More specifically, in 2022, outside Italy the Enel Group generated 179.3 TWh of electricity (174.6 TWh in 2021), distributed 287.3 TWh (283.5 TWh in 2021) and sold 223.9 TWh (216.7 TWh in 2021).