The PPC Group, which took over Enel in Romania, recorded in the first quarter of the year (Q1) a net profit of 86 million euros, up by 68% compared to the figure of 51 million euros in Q1 2023.
Total investments reached EUR 501 million, including in Romania, with significant growth in distribution and renewables (SRE) activities, in line with PPC’s strategy to increase the share of clean energy in its electricity generation mix and to digitize distribution networks.
Investments in activities related to renewable sources and distribution reached 420 million euros, registering an increase of 123% compared to Q1 2023, including the contribution from Romania.
PPC’s installed renewables (SRE) capacity reached 4.7GW at the end of March 2024, with 2.8GW of projects in the “Under Construction” or “Ready for Construction” stage, representing approximately 70% of residual capacity needed to reach the target set for 2026.
In addition, Scope 1 emissions intensity improved by 24% (0.50 tonnes CO2/MWh from 0.65 CO2/MWh), mainly as a result of reducing lignite production and taking over renewable energy production.
Significant increase in operating profitability in Q1 2024, with recurring EBITDA of €459 million, up 64% from Q1 2023, due to higher contribution from distribution activity, improved integrated profitability and the addition of operations in Romania.
Pre-tax profit rose to €122 million, compared to €73 million in Q1 2023, mainly due to improved operating profitability and the contribution of operations in Romania.
PPC maintained a debt ratio (net debt/pro-forma EBITDA in March 2024) of 2x, well below the self-imposed ceiling of 3.5x, with net debt of 3.37 billion euros at 31.03.2024.
“PPC started the year with a solid performance, which gives us the confidence to raise our forecasts for 2024. We have accelerated our investments in renewable energy and distribution, in line with our goal to become a leader in clean energy and critical infrastructure in the South East Europe region while maintaining a sound financial position. We remain focused on executing the strategic plan we presented at Capital Markets Day in January, relying on our integrated model, which provides us with resilience in times of volatility, but also opportunities to further develop our activities and create value for our shareholders,” said Georgios Stassis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Public Power Corporation.
Outlook for 2024
For 2024, PPC improves its forecasts, targeting recurring EBITDA of €1.8 billion, based on a solid performance in the first quarter of 2024 and despite continued volatility in energy markets.
Retail activity
Electricity demand in Greece increased by 2.2% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. In Romania, electricity demand increased by 1.9% in Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
PPC’s average retail market share in Greece decreased to 51% in Q1 2024 from 61% in Q1 2023, mainly due to the reduction of PPC’s market share among high voltage customers due to termination old fixed contracts. In the interconnected system, the respective market share fell to 51% in March 2024 (from 61% in March 2023), while the average market share by voltage type was 23% (from 84%) in High Voltage, 39% (from 34%) at Medium Voltage and 63% (from 65%) at Low Voltage. In Romania, the average market share of PPC in electricity sales was 16%.
Production activity
On the production side, PPC’s average market share in Greece fell to 33% in Q1 2024 from 39% in Q1 2023. This is mainly attributed to lower production in lignite-based plants as PPC advances with its plan to stop using coal by 2026. In Romania, PPC’s average market share in terms of production from renewable energy sources (wind/solar) reached 14%, with no significant change from Q1 2023 (14%).
The transition to less polluting energy sources continued with the reduction of CO2 emissions (Scope 1) by 18%, which led to the improvement of CO2 emission intensity to 0.50 tonnes per MWh generated, from 0.65 tonnes per MWh generated in Q1 2023.
Distribution activity
PPC focuses on digitizing the distribution business and improving its performance.
Even though Q1 2024 saw a slight deterioration in certain performance indicators compared to the corresponding period in 2023, this does not signal a change in the positive trend from the previous period, given the significant investments we are implementing to modernize our networks both in Greece as well as in Romania. More precisely, in Romania, SAIDI decreased to 18 minutes (from 20 minutes), and in Greece it increased to 26 minutes (from 24 minutes). SAIFI remained stable in Greece, at 0.3, and in Romania it increased marginally to 0.6 (from 0.5).
Penetration of smart meters is already quite high in Romania and continues to grow (48%), while in Greece (11%) this phenomenon is expected to accelerate with wider expansion in the country.
The integration of renewable energy plants has started to normalize, after a major increase in the previous years, which was recorded especially in Greece. In terms of numbers, 185MW were connected to the grid in Greece, compared to 267MW in Q1 2023, while the respective figures in Romania stood at 60MW and 70MW.
Telco
Regarding Fiber-to-the-home deployment, the plan continues to advance, reaching 185,000 households in Attica, Greece by the end of March 2024. The goal is to reach 500,000 households and businesses by the end of the year 2024 and to 1.7 million in 2025.
E-mobility
In e-mobility, through PPC blue, the company has a 35% market share in terms of public charging points in Greece, with 2,090 such points at the end of the first quarter of 2024, up 44% from of the respective period from 2023. In Romania, we continue to expand charging points, having 400 compared to 292 such points.
