PNE WIND : presents its report for the first nine months of 2014

Cuxhaven, November 12, 2014 - The wind farm project developer, PNE WIND AG published its financial report for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2014 today. The rate of growth achieved represents an increase over the first six months of the year. The PNE WIND Group completed wind farm projects with a total nominal output of 88 MW in Germany and a 12 MW project in France. With projects with approx. 105 MW of total nominal output under construction at the end of the third quarter, the realisation of wind farms will continue intensively in the future as well. Furthermore, the PNE WIND Group is expanding its business model by initiating a YieldCo.

The positive operational developments in the third quarter are reflected in the PNE WIND Group's operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 4.9 million (previous year: EUR - 0.4 million) and consolidated earnings per share of EUR 0.04 (previous year EUR - 0.08).

In the first nine months of 2014, the PNE WIND Group achieved an operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 7.7 million (previous year: EUR - 6.0 million). Sales totalled EUR 184.1 million (previous year: EUR 43.6 million) and the Group reported earnings per share of EUR 0.00 (previous year: EUR -0.28) during the reporting period.

Martin Billhardt, CEO of PNE WIND AG, emphasised the positive effects of initiating a YieldCo business for the future development of the PNE WIND Group. "With the formation of a YieldCo, where our commissioned onshore wind farms in Germany with a total nominal output of up to 150 MW will be bundled, we are expanding our business model and gaining access to additional customer / investor groups", says Billhardt.

The PNE WIND Group intends to benefit in many ways from this strategy, which has proven to be successful in the USA and the United Kingdom. First of all, we aim to achieve higher prices from the sale of a single portfolio containing commissioned wind farms than we would be able to achieve on individual project sales. The reason for this is that investors in portfolios are generally willing to accept lower returns because they benefit from diversification - the portfolio is comprised of many wind farms - as well as not being exposed to construction related risks - the wind farms are fully commissioned at the time of sale. These positive attributes play a part in the lower return expectations that YieldCo investors have over our current customers who mainly comprise of infrastructure and sustainability funds. We also plan on generating additional value through the management of the YieldCo and by providing long-term commercial and technical management services for the wind parks. "We plan to continue to benefit from the YieldCo - even after its planned sale in 2016 - by establishing a new customer for wind farm projects which the Group is developing" explains Billhardt.

In 2014, the PNE WIND Group completed or commenced construction of wind farms with a total nominal output of approx. 193 MW in Germany. One of these is the "Chransdorf" wind farm project in Brandenburg with a total nominal output of 57.6 MW, representing the largest single onshore project in the history of the PNE WIND Group. Wind farm project sales to investors such as the Allianz insurance group, the utility company Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW), the holding company CEE and the infrastructure investors KGAL and CHORUS offer proof to the high quality of our projects.

The PNE WIND Group has also expanded its international activities. In France, a previously sold 12 MW wind farm was completed and handed over to the purchaser. Further projects in France (10 MW), Italy (30 MW), the United Kingdom (38 MW), Romania (102 MW) and Poland (32 MW) have already been approved. Two wind farms continued to be developed in the USA.

The PNE WIND Group has an onshore project pipeline of more than 5,200 MW at various stages of development in the German and International markets. The offshore pipeline is well filled and PNE WIND AG is currently developing, either on its own account or as a service provider, 13 projects with a total capacity of approx. 4,700 MW.

Optimistically, CEO Martin Billhardt looks to the future, "Through the establishment of our YieldCo business, we will open up considerable new possibilities for the Group. Our onshore and offshore project development pipelines are well filled and the higher implementation rate of our projects promise continuous returns. We confirm our cumulative EBIT forecast for the 2014 to 2016 financial years of euro 110 to 130 million and see the prospect to increase our forecast upon the successful implementation of the YieldCo concept.

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