Hidroelectrica posts net profit of 1.32 billion RON, down 23 percent in the first quarter

Hidroelectrica Group records a decrease in operational and financial results for the first 3 months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, in line with the approved budget. The Group’s operating margin and net margin decreased by 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively, compared to the similar period in 2023, mainly due to the decrease in electricity selling prices (both locally and in the interconnected European market) and the quantity of electricity sold.

Net profit decreased by 23 percent, from 1.72 billion RON to 1.32 billion RON.

In the first three months of 2024, Hidroelectrica’s results were influenced by the decrease in electricity selling prices, as well as the quantity of electricity sold, leading implicitly to a decrease in revenue from energy sales.

Generation Energy Sold (Net)

The energy produced and sold (net production) experienced a slight decrease of approximately 3 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year, with a quantity of 4,296 GWh recorded from January to March 2024. This decline was primarily due to hydrological conditions recorded in March 2024, when the average flow rate of the Danube (6,054 m³/s) decreased by approximately 15 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

Wholesale Revenue

The revenues related to transactions recorded in the period January-March 2024 were impacted by a series of factors determined by market conditions, particularly the decrease in energy prices, combined with the fact that suppliers enrolled in the single procurement mechanism reduced their monthly demand for the quantities of energy that could be acquired through MACEE, where the procurement price of 450 lei/MWh became higher than the price at which they could purchase energy from the Day-Ahead Market.

As a result, the decrease in the SPOT price in the period January-March 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 (by approximately 42 percent), as well as the non-uptake of the entire allocated quantity to Hidroelectrica in the annual auction held in December 2023 for delivery in 2024 through MACEE (the sale of this available energy being carried out after the publication of auction results on MACEE at market prices, below the threshold of 450 lei/MWh), resulted in a 31 percent decrease in revenues recorded in the period January-March 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Supply Revenue related to active energy

The revenues from the electricity supply activity decreased by 24 percent, to RON 622 million revenues in the first three months of 2024, from RON 822 million revenues in the same period of 2023. This decrease is due to both the decline in the selling price of electricity and the reduction in the volumes supplied in the first 3 months of 2024 compared to the first three months of 2023.