REN closes the first half of the year with a net profit of €51.1M

• EBITDA decreased 2% compared to the same period of 2018
• Cost of debt down to 2.23%
• Consumption of natural gas at historical highs in the conventional market 
• New historical records of national maximum power in wind and photovoltaic production
• Renewables supply 48% of domestic consumption 
• Company signed contract for the acquisition of an energy transmission company in Chile after close of 1st semester

REN - Redes Energéticas Nacionais ended the first half of 2019 with a net profit of 51.1 million euros, a decrease of 3.3% compared to the same period last year, penalised by the Extraordinary Contribution for the Energy Sector, which amounted to 24.4 million euros, raising the effective tax rate to 38.8%.
At the operational level, the first six months of the year were marked by new historical values of national maximum power: wind generation, at 2:45 pm on 6 March, reached 4646 MW, surpassing the previous record of 4479 MW, reached on 1 March 2018; in photovoltaic generation, the maximum power value was recorded on 11 July, at 2:00 pm, with 495 MW, surpassing the 443 MW recorded on 9 August 2018.

EBITDA stood at €247.4M, a slight decrease of 2% over the same period last year, mainly explained by the decrease in asset remuneration (from 5.2% to 5.0% in the electricity base rate and from 5.5% to 5.4% in natural gas transmission). This decrease was, however, partially offset by the increase in the EBITDA of the Natural Gas distribution area (Portgás). In the evolution of EBITDA, Electrogas also had a positive contribution. 

CAPEX grew €10,5M to €49.9M, benefiting from the increase in investments in the electricity area. The average cost of REN's debt fell from 2.27% to 2.23%.

Also in the same period of the year, the usage of the Sines Terminal was the highest ever, with 33 ships, surpassing the previous maximum of 20 ships, recorded in the first half of 2017.

Until the end of June, natural gas consumption grew by 3% year-on-year, stemming from increases of 8.6% in the electricity market and 0.9% in the conventional market. In the conventional market, consumption was the highest ever. Electricity consumption fell 2.3% year-on-year, or 1.1% when correcting for the effects of temperature and the number of working days.

In the first half of the year, renewable production supplied 48% of consumption, broken down into wind power with 26%, hydropower with 15%, biomass with 5%, and photovoltaics with 2%. Non-renewable production supplied 41% of consumption, with natural gas accounting for 27% and coal for 14%. Imports supplied around 11% of consumption.

At the beginning of this week, REN announced the signing of the contract for the acquisition of Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Transemel S.A., an energy transmission company in Chile, REN's second investment in this country. This acquisition, made within the scope of REN's Strategic Plan, provides growth and diversification of assets to the company, also creating the opportunity to apply REN's considerable technical and operational knowledge in the management of energy transmission, integration and storage systems.