EDP Renováveis reports a 19% increase in its net profit in the first nine months of 2009

EDP Renováveis (EDPR), the world’s fourth largest wind power company and a subsidiary of the Portuguese Energy Group, Grupo EDP-Energias de Portugal, today announced its financial and operating results for the first nine months of 2009, showing a net profit of 70 million euros – a 19% increase on last year’s results for the same period. It published an EBITDA of 369 million euros, meaning a rise of 20%. The gross margin obtained between January and September was 496 million euros. In line with its strategic plan, the company is in a position to reach its objective of delivering a cumulative wind power capacity of between 1.2 and 1.3 GW.

Between January and September of this year, EDPR made investments valued at 1,487 million euros, 543 million of which were allocated to Spain, 689 million to the United States and 251 million to the rest of the European countries in which it is present. In the month of September, the company received 48 million dollars in Cash Grants in the USA, and concluded an institutional agreement raising another 102 million dollars. The sum of both, which is 150 million dollars, has already been allocated to constructing new wind power projects in the United States.

The company has also expanded into Eastern Europe – It has put a 120 MW wind farm in Poland into operation and is constructing another with a 159 MW capacity in Romania, which is expected to be finished next year.

On September 30th 2009, EDPR’s total wind energy capacity in the eight countries in which it operates amounted to 5,577 MW. The company is constructing 1,293 MW, mainly in the United States (427 MW), and in Spain (417 MW). The rest applies to Romania (159 MW), Portugal (128 MW), Poland (120 MW) and France and Belgium (43 MW). EDPR’s project portfolio amounts to 28,587 MW.

In terms of electricity production, EDP Renováveis experienced a growth of 36% in the first nine months of 2009. This increase was particularly significant in the United States, which was 57%. In the first six months of the year, the company generated 7,295 GWh. 86% of the electricity production sold between January and September was done so entirely without any market-risk exposure.

The managing director, Ana Maria Fernandes, has emphasised EDPR’s steady growth in its installed wind power capacity over the last 12 months: 1,423 MW, of which 56% (798 MW) were constructed in the United States, and 44% (611 MW) in Europe. Ana Maria Fernandes also highlighted the fact that between January and September 2009, EDPR has reached higher than average load factors, and has one of the highest Ebitda margins in the sector. Cost control, and the favourable position the company holds to deal with a future profitable growth with a solid balance, were also factors pointed out by the EDPR managing director.

EDP Renováveis is the renewable energy company from the Portuguese Energy Group, Grupo EDP-Energias de Portugal. It operates in eight countries, including the United States, Brazil, and six European countries. With 5,577 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity at the end of September 2009, EDP Renováveis is the world’s fourth largest wind power operator, third in Europe and Spain, and fourth in the United States.

EDP Renováveis is also one of the three largest companies in the world in terms of growth and installed capacity. In its expansion plan it aims to increase its wind power capacity to 10.5 GW in 2012.

In addition to the 5,577 MW that it already has operating in eight countries, EDP Renováveis has 1,293 MW under construction, 867 MW of which are in European farms and 427 MW in the United States, as well as a project portfolio for 28.6 GW.

EDP Renováveis is the third largest operator in the sector in Europe, with a wind power capacity of 3,033 megawatts spread out over wind farms in Spain (2,169 MW), Portugal (596 MW), and the rest of Europe (268 MW). As well as operating on the Iberian Peninsula, the company is also present in France, Belgium, Poland and Romania.

EDP Renováveis is also the fourth largest operator in North America. On September 30th 2009, the company had a total of 2,530 MW in operation, to which we may add a project portfolio in the region of 18,062 MW. EDP Renováveis is present in fifteen states in the USA.

The EDP Group is Portugal’s largest industrial group and is one of the largest in the European energy market. It operates in the areas of production, marketing and distribution of electricity and gas in Portugal and Spain. In addition to its prominent position on the Iberian Peninsula, the EDP group also has an important presence in the Brazilian energy sector.

www.edprenovaveis.com/en/index.asp