EQS-News: ABO Energy increases profit in the first half of the year

ABO Energy continued its growth and success in the first half of the year. The net profit after tax amounted to 11.4 million euros. This represents an increase of 28 percent compared to the same period last year (8.9 million euros). The total operating performance, which is the sum of revenues and changes in work in progress, increased to 186.6 million euros (first half of 2023: 158.8 million euros). Like the previous financial reports, the 2024 half-year financial statement is available on the website in German: https://www.aboenergy.com/de/unternehmen/geschaeftsberichte.html A short version only with the Profit and Loss Statement, and the Balance sheet is available in English here: https://www.aboenergy.com/en/company/annual-reports.html

With 122.5 million euros, the turnover in the first six months of the current financial year was lower than in the first half of 2023 (130.7 million euros). On the other hand, work in progress increased significantly by 64 million euros (first half of 2023: 28.1 million euros). The development of work in progress corresponds to the continued growth of the project pipeline. More than 1,200 colleagues are currently working on the development and construction of renewable energy and battery projects with an output of 24.8 gigawatts. Around 60 percent of the development pipeline consists of wind projects, 30 percent of solar projects and 10 percent of battery projects. When the project pipeline was most recently updated in March of this year, ABO Energy announced development projects with a volume of 23.1 gigawatts. Since then, further projects have been added, also in the home market of Germany (+500 megawatts). The updated pipeline can be found on the website: https://www.aboenergy.com/en/company/facts-figures.html An additional project pipeline of 20 gigawatts for hydrogen production is reported separately due to the risk profile.

“Particularly in our home market in Germany, we are currently benefiting not only from faster approval procedures, but also from the increased willingness to provide land for renewable energy use,” says Managing Director Dr Karsten Schlageter, who acts as spokesman within the ABO Energy KGaA Managing Board. The energy crisis, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, still has an impact. “In addition to climate protection, the desire for greater independence from fossil fuels, for example from Russia, is pushing forward the use of wind and solar energy,” says Dr Schlageter. From January to June 2024, more wind power capacity was approved in Germany than ever before in the first half of the year, namely around 5.6 gigawatts. This is reflected in ABO Energy's revenues, of which approximately 58 percent were generated in Germany in the first six months. The Schierenberg wind power project in Brandenburg, which was approved in March 2024 and has a nominal output of 48 megawatts, made a significant contribution to this. To date, Schierenberg will be the largest single turnkey project that ABO Energy has built in Germany.

In view of the growing volume of projects ready for realisation, the management is currently examining the possibility of increasing existing funding. “Our aim is to continue to make the most of the ongoing positive momentum”, says Dr Schlageter.

To a lesser extent, also sales of international projects in the development stage contributed to the good result for the first half of the year. These include two Argentinian solar projects with a combined output of 40 megawatts and a Hungarian 250-megawatt hybrid solar and battery project. Balotaszállás had not yet made it into the communicated development pipeline and fortunately has already found a buyer. Depending on the progress of the project, further milestone payments are expected from the completed sale in the coming months.

In the first six months of the current financial year, ABO Energy generated significant revenue from milestone payments for various Spanish wind and solar projects that were sold in the development stage in previous years. As a result, Spain accounts for the largest share of sales after Germany at around 22 percent. Among other things, the ongoing implementation of the Palencia development portfolio, which was sold at the turn of the year 2022/2023 and consists of 100 megawatts of solar and 150 megawatts of wind, generated considerable income. 

For the full year, the management confirms the forecast published in March of achieving consolidated earnings after taxes of between 25 and 31 million euros in 2024. “Despite a challenging environment with volatile electricity prices and uncertain interest rate developments, the expectation for the 2024 financial year remains positive,” says Dr Karsten Schlageter. In the 2023 financial year, ABO Energy achieved its best result to date with 27.3 million euros. “In the medium term, we continue to see the potential to increase our annual profit to 50 million euros,” confirms the Managing Director.