EQS-News

ENCAVIS AG again surpasses its guidance with its Consolidated Financial Statements 2023 – Operating Cash Flow 2023 influenced by non-recurring effects - Seite 2

The equity ratio as of 31 December 2023 increased from 28.1 % to 33.2 % year-on-year. In this regard, the fully retained profit of 2022 also has a positive impact.

Despite the reduced operating cash flow from operating activities in 2023, totaling EUR 234.9 million (previous year: EUR 327.2 million), the Group again had cash at its disposal at year-end 2023 amounting to EUR 375.6 million for the Group's further growth (previous year: EUR 344.4 million). The majority of the decline in operating cash flow is based on the reduction in operating net revenue of wind and solar parks, totaling around EUR 46.4 million (price effect) as a result of significantly lower electricity prices. Higher tax payments, which exceed those of the same period by around EUR 34.2 million, also contribute to the difference in cash flow in 2023 compared to the previous year. In addition, the provisions and liabilities established in the previous year, included for the price caps already announced at the time, which affected EBITDA but did not affect cash flow, also contributed to this difference. These provisions or liabilities led to disbursements in the financial year 2023.

Overall, the operating cash flow for 2023 is therefore below our expectations. Around 20 million euros of the deviation from the guidance, mostly tax claims and claims against guarantors and insurance companies, have been postponed to the current financial year 2024 and some have already been received. A further EUR 12.4 million from the sale of individual assets was not recorded in the operating cash flow but in the cash flow from investing activities. Only 12.7 million euros of tax payments from the previous year 2022, which were reported differently in the plan, thus remain as a difference.

In the light of the Encavis Group’s business strategy, which is geared towards qualitative growth, and the yet again significantly reduced electricity price level, Encavis expects only a moderate overall increase in their KPIs in the 2024 financial year. The Group aims to make up for a large part of the further significant drop in electricity prices through further revenue growth at Stern Energy, expanded wind capacities in Germany and a further increase in revenue at Encavis Asset Management in the current financial year. Most of the recent acquisitions from the previous year will not be completed until the end of 2024. As a result, they will not yet contribute to revenue in 2024. These new projects will be clearly reflected in the key figures in 2025.