Scatec turns to Q2 loss amid higher expenses, lower Ukraine revenues

Norwegian renewable power producer Scatec ASA (OSL:SCATC) on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the second quarter of 2022 as a result of higher expenses and lower revenues from Ukraine.

The net loss for the period from April through June came in at NOK 68 million (USD 6.9m/EUR 6.7m), against a profit of NOK 110 million a year earlier.

Scatec noted that about 95% of its five power plants in Ukraine with a total capacity of 336 MW are intact. However, power demand has declined and production is being curtailed by the grid operator on an ad hoc basis leading to lower revenues.

The company's performance was dented also by higher financial expenses caused by currency effects, interest rate increases on corporate funding and non-recurring fees from refinancing of power plants in Egypt and Vietnam.

Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined to NOK 547 million as the Norwegian firm’s joint ventures and associated companies had a smaller contribution, while revenues from Ukraine contracted and operating costs increased. Revenues from power sales experienced a drop of NOK 16 million from a year back to NOK 720 million.

In the meantime, Scatec enjoyed high availability of its power plants, with their generation rising to 916 GWh and lifting proportionate revenues from power production by NOK 140 million. On a proportionate basis, the company’s revenues in the second quarter climbed by 12.2% in annual terms thanks to higher power sales in the Philippines and added capacity in Argentina. However, proportionate EBITDA from power production, contracted by 6.5% on the year as the newly-added capacity led to a rise in operating expenses.

More details are available in the table below.

“We reported solid operating results from our diversified portfolio of power plants during the second quarter and power production increased seven per cent compared to last year. We continue to see good availability and performance across the asset portfolio,” said CEO Terje Pilskog.

Scatec ended the second quarter with a project pipeline totalling 14.8 GW.

Looking ahead, Scatec revised upwards its full-year power production EBITDA on a proportionate basis to NOK 2.5 billion- 2.7 billion. It was previously seen to be between NOK 2.3 billion and NOK 2.6 billion.

(NOK 1.0 = USD 0.101/EUR 0.099)

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