Acciona obtained €596 million in net profit in the first half of 2016

ACCIONA obtained €596 million in net profit in the first half of 2016, close to six times the €103 million reported in the first half of 2015, basically as a result of €657 million in extraordinary earnings from the merger of ACCIONA Windpower (AWP) and Nordex, in which ACCIONA is a core shareholder.

 

EBITDA amounted to €525 million (?8.4%) in spite of a 36% decline in electricity prices in Spain with respect to the first half of 2015 and of deconsolidating the wind turbine subsidiary. These two factors also explain the reduction in consolidated group revenues, by 16.3% to €2,764 million, basically as a result of the reduction in revenues in Energy (?34.8%) and, to a lesser extent, in Construction (?14.8%).

 

Net financial debt increased by €293 million in the first half to €5,452 million, 5.7% more than at 31 December 2015, mainly because of the sharp five-fold increase in net ordinary capital expenditure to €527 million. The bulk of capital expenditure was in Energy, €284 million, in line with the new cycle of investment by ACCIONA linked basically to international opportunities in renewable energy.

 

Results by division

 

ACCIONA Energy reported €952 million in revenues, a decline of 34.8%, while EBITDA fell by 21.9% to €368 million, mainly as a result of a 36% decline in electricity prices in Spain with respect to the first half of 2015 and of the deconsolidation of ACCIONA Windpower as from 1 April. EBT amounted to €42 million, 64.7% lower.

 

Consolidated installed capacity increased by 92 MW in the last twelve months to 7,113 MW at 30 June. Consolidated electricity production amounted to 9,497 GWh, a 1.9% increase with respect to the first half of 2015.

 

The Infrastructure division (which encompasses Construction, Water and Service) billed €1,568 million in the first half, i.e. 2.7% less than in the same period of 2015, basically because of a 14.8% decline in Construction revenues, which was broadly offset by a 77.2% increase in Water revenues.

 

The Infrastructure division’s EBITDA amounted to €117 million, a 69.9% increase, including good performance by Construction, where EBITDA increased by 10.7% to €51 million thanks to higher margins on international projects, offsetting the decline in activity in Spain. Water increased EBITDA from €13 million to €56 million due to expansion of the international design and construction business and also to consolidation of ATLL. Service EBITDA remained stable at €11 million.

 

The Construction and Industrial backlog expanded by 28.6% to €7,372 million at 30 June. International orders now account for 78% of the total backlog, up from 68% at 30 June 2015. Aggregate net order intake in Construction amounted to €1,523 million in the first half, 93% of that in the international market.

 

The Other Activities division, which includes Trasmediterranea, Real Estate, Bestinver and Wineries, increased revenues by 3.6% to €288 million, and EBITDA increased to €40 million, 25.8% more than in the same period of 2015, due to the improvement at Trasmediterranea. The shipping company’s EBITDA increased by €12 million on higher revenues, better operational efficiency and lower fuel costs. Bestinver had €4,857 million under management at 30 June 2016, and reported €29 million in EBITDA.