PNE AG lays the foundation for a successful year in the first quarter

PNE AG has made a dynamic start into the 2023 fiscal year in operational terms. The first three months laid the foundation for a successful business year with a high number of permits (67 megawatts in Germany and 12 megawatts in France) and tenders won (96 megawatts).

In the first quarter of 2023, the Group recorded total aggregate output of euro 45.3 million (prior year: euro 37.9 million), revenues of euro 32.2 million (prior year: euro 29.5 million), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of euro 8.6 million (prior year: euro 15.8 million) and undiluted earnings per share of euro -0.08 (prior year: euro 0.13). The first quarter of the previous year was characterised by higher electricity prices and a high wind supply. As a result of the falling electricity price development and the lower wind supply, the results declined. In addition, the electricity price brake had an impact on the EBITDA.

"We were very successful as regards permits for new wind farms and tenders in the first three months of this year. We have also increased our project pipeline significantly to a record level," said Markus Lesser, CEO of PNE AG. "The expansion of our business is going according to plan. In addition, our own wind farms produced around 204 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity in the first quarter (in the same period last year: 170 GWh), thus reducing CO₂ emissions into the environment by approx. 132,000 tonnes. In this way, they make an important contribution to climate protection and a secure energy supply."

Wind and PV project pipeline almost doubled

The pipeline for wind and photovoltaic projects increased from 7,201 MW/MWp to 13,814 MW/MWp compared to the same period last year, thus almost doubling. Onshore wind energy projects accounted for 8,414 MW. The pipeline for PV projects reached 5,400 MWp. In Germany alone, the PNE Group worked on wind farms with a nominal capacity of approx. 2,349 MW (prior year: 1,957 MW). Of these, eight wind farms with a nominal capacity of 140.8 MW were under construction, including one service project. One wind farm with a capacity of 60 MW is under construction in Sweden on behalf of a customer.

Expansion of own generation portfolio continued

The wind farm portfolio operated by PNE had a capacity of 321 MW at the end of the first quarter. After the end of the quarter, PNE expanded its own generation portfolio to 349.5 MW with the commissioning of further wind farm. A total of 178.5 MW are currently under construction or in the construction preparation phase for the internal portfolio so that PNE expects to commission further wind farms in its own portfolio this year. The approval procedures for further projects are underway.

Service business remains stable

The expansion of the service business as well as the sale of electricity generated by PNE's own portfolio contributes to further increasing the share of steady earnings. In the first quarter of 2023, PNE was able to expand the international business of operations management as well as technical inspections and tests with additional services and to increase the order volume managed in operations management to over 2,400 MW (prior-year period: 2,200 MW).

Good quarterly result is the basis for the entire year

"The results of the first quarter provide a good basis for the rest of the fiscal year. In particular, the status of permits and successful tenders give rise to optimism. Accordingly, we confirm our guidance for the 2023 fiscal year with positive EBITDA for the Group in the range of euro 30 to 40 million", says Markus Lesser.