POWEO DIRECT ENERGIE
PRESS RELEASE: 2012 Half-Year results
Paris, October, 23rd 2012
• Since July, 11th, the merger has created the
leading alternative multi-energy operator in France:
./ 1 million residential and professional customers
./ Nearly 10 TWh of electricity and gas to be supplied in
2012
./ Combined revenues would have reached €388 million (1) in
H1 2012
./ The integration process has been engaged in a timely
manner for the implementation of synergies estimated at an
annual run-rate of approximatively €20 million
• Other major events since January, 1st 2012
./ Direct Energie Poweo has just been awarded in partnership
with Siemens and through the tender organized by CRE the
construction of a 400 MW CCGT plant in Landivisiau
(Finistère): a project whose profitability will be guaranteed
by a capacity premium amounting to €40 million per year
./ Signature of a 4-year service contract with ErDF under
which Poweo Direct Energie will collect €26 million for
2012
./ Renunciation of the exercice of the call option on Poweo
Production, thus enabling to deconsolidate
the generation assets owned by Verbund since 2011
• A solid cash position
• Improved short term profitability prospects
./ First synergy impacts expected as soon as 2012 and
2013
./ CoRDiS' decision regarding the distribution part of unpaid
bills became definitive
./ Service contract with ErDF
• The Board of Directors of Poweo Direct Energie
approved the IFRS consolidated half-year accounts of POWEO
for the period ending June, 30th 2012, prior to
the merger with Direct Energie. These accounts show revenues
amounting to €220 million and a net loss of €12 million.
These accounts include for the
last time the losses incurred by generation assets owned by
Verbund. Poweo Direct Energie's accounts at the end of the
year will not include those elements anymore and will give a
clearer view of the Group's
activities.
(1) Combined financials of Poweo and Direct Energie,
excluding both the generation assets owned by
Verbund and transactions realized between both companies.
1
1. Creation of the leading alternative energy operator in
France
The merger-absorption, completed on July 2012, has created
Poweo Direct Energie. With a portfolio of more than 1 million
customers, the Group is now positioned as the long-standing
leading alternative multi-energy operator in France.
Less than three months after the merger, notably thanks to an
integration process implemented in a timely manner, the Group
is already fully operational to maintain its growth and
innovations dynamic for the benefits of its customers.
Thus, the teams have moved to a common site since September,
1st, less than two months after the merger. The
migration of commercial offers, customers acquisition
programs, processes of market access and information systems
is on-going and should be completed by the beginning of
2013.
2. Major events since January, 1st, 2012
Implementation of operational synergies
The merger-absorption should generate operational synergies
with an estimated impact on EBITDA of nearly
€20 million a year, contributing to the Group's results from
2012 and 2013, with a full impact from 2014 onwards.
Renunciation of the exercice of the call option on Poweo Production's generation assets
The Board of Directors of Poweo Direct Energie decided on
October, 22nd, 2012 to definitively abandon the
exercice of the call option concluded with Verbund for the
potential acquisition of a 100% stake in Poweo Production,
owning among others several companies: Poweo Pont-sur-Sambre
Production, Poweo Toul Production and Poweo Blaringhem
Production.
This decision was taken prior to the maturity date of such
call option (June, 30th, 2013), notably in
respect of (i) other development projects of generation
assets in France, and (ii) uncertainties due to the safeguard
procedure of Poweo Pont-sur-Sambre Production opened in March
2012.
This evolution has no impact on the cash position and will
give a clearer view of the new Group's activities.
Indeed, Poweo Pont-sur-Sambre Production, Poweo Toul
Production and Poweo Blaringhem Production will not be
consolidated anymore in the Poweo Direct Energie Group.
Accordingly, the debt and operational losses relating to
these projects fully owned by Verbund since February 2011
will not be integrated anymore in the Group's consolidated
financial statements.
Resolution of the litigation regarding the distribution part of unpaid bills
CoRDiS' (Comité de règlement des différends et des sanctions)
decision became effective and ErDF and Poweo
Direct Energie have put an end to their litigation.
The distribution part of unpaid bills will not be borne
anymore by Poweo Direct Energie. On a full year basis, the
Group will benefit from savings amounting to €10 million
(estimate based on revenues of the current financial year).
Details on the implementation of CoRDiS' decision will be
submitted soon to the French Regulatory Commission's
approval.
2
Conclusion of a service contract with ErDF
Poweo Direct Energie reached an agreement in October 2012
that defines for the next four years the payment conditions
of Poweo Direct Energie by ErDF for customer relationship
management.
This agreement - that only applies to suppliers which have
not yet reached sufficient size and do not benefit from
sufficient economies of scales compared to incumbent
suppliers - and the payment conditions in relation with
services provided by Poweo Direct Energie to ErDF, were
approved by the French Regulatory Commission (Commission de
Régulation de l'Energie) - decision dated July,
26th - and their non-discriminatory nature was
confirmed by the French Competition Authority. Thus, Poweo
Direct Energie collected €26 million in the second half of
2012, in respect of 2012.
Development of the generation assets portfolio
New combined-cycle natural gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in
Brittany
The French Government selected in February, 2012 the Poweo
Direct Energie - Siemens consortium to build a nearly 400 MW
CCGT plant in Landivisiau (Finistère). The two partners are
associated in the Compagnie Electrique de Bretagne (CEB) with
a 60% stake for Poweo Direct Energie (through its 100% owned
subsidiary Direct Energie Génération) and a 40% stake for
Siemens Financial Services (through its subsidiary Siemens
Project Ventures). This project is part of the "Pacte
Electrique Breton", aiming at securing the electrical supply
in Brittany, one of the main zone of vulnerability in the
French power system, and relieving the network during
consumption peaks from the in-service date onwards (expected
during the 2016-2017 winter). In this context, the
profitability of this project, which will represent a total
investment of nearly €400 million for CEB, will notably be
guaranteed by a capacity premium of €40 million a year.
Declared ambition for the renewal of large hydroelectric
concessions
In order to secure a competitive supply, Poweo Direct Energie
is candidate for the renewal of French large hydroelectric
concessions. These renewals will be launched within the
coming months by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable
Development and Energy.
Poweo Direct Energie concluded long term industrial
partnerships in order to submit bids in collaboration with
European and French partners recognized for their know-how in
running hydroelectric plants, notably the Swiss group Axpo
(leading Swiss hydroelectric producer with a total installed
capacity amounting to 3 GW) and the French producer CHCR
(recognized for its expertise in high head dams).
Strong dynamism of the "Large Accounts et Local Authorities " segment
Poweo Direct Energie continues its development on the
"multi-sites" segment, tendering on signifiant volumes.
A master agreement was notably signed on September,
18th with a French group in the Environment
sector in relation with about 15,000 delivery points spread
accross the whole French Territory and totalling an annual
consumption of approximately 90 GWh. With a common approach
based on both sustainable development and innovation, Poweo
Direct Energie put in place for this specific customer a new
entirely paperless process of
electronic data sharing and tax dematerialization.
3
The Group has also won the public tender procedure for the
street lightning contract of SDEC Energie (Syndicat
d'Electricité du Calvados). This contract represents 3,500
delivery points spread across 555 municipalities including
the city of Caen and totalling an annual consumption of
approximately 31GWh.
These types of contracts, that are supposed to be applied to
other potential customers, illustrate Poweo Direct Energie's
know-how, its ability to adapt to multi-site customers' needs
as well as the relevance of the Group's offers.
Confirmation of best-in-class customer service
Poweo Direct Energie earned the "2013 award for best customer
service" in the "Electricty and gas supplier" category. The
survey was conducted by Viséo Conseil on the mystery shopper
principle by means of
430 contacts split between calls, e-mails and contacts
through the Internet. Since its creation in 2008, Poweo and
Direct Energie have successively earned all "best customer
service" awards, proving that the Group considers the quality
of its customer relationship is key to its differentiation
strategy.
Given that the merger took place on July, 11th
2012, Poweo Direct Energie's full-year net result will
comprise:
• Direct Energie's H1 2012 net result, including the impact
of Poweo consolidated under the Equity
Method;
• The combined Group's H2 2012 net result;
• Exceptionnal items (including accounting entries mainly
related to the merger) Over 2012, those impacts should be
balanced in terms of consolidated net result.
3. Operationnal data and financials
a. Poweo Direct Energie combined information
As of July, 11th 2012, the Group had close to 1
million customers, of which 78% for electricity and 22% for
gas. Over the first half of 2012, total customer portfolio
slightly increased (+0.1%).
Customer base evolutions since 01/01/2012 have been as
follows:
The combined portfolio consumption reached 4.75 TWh over H1
2012, of which approximately 2.9 TWh for electricity and 1.9
TWh for Gas.
The combined portfolio churn1 decreased to reach
1.72% over H1 2012, compared to 2.07% over H1 2011.
1 Churn: monthly churn rate of the customer portfolio.
4
Excluding both generation assets owned by Verbund and
transactions realized between the companies, combined sales
of Poweo and Direct Energie would have reached €388
million.
b. Poweo's acounts prior to merger
Because the merger was approved by the General meeting of
shareholders held on July, 11th 2012, the Board
of
Directors formely closed Poweo's consolidated accounts under
IFRS for the first half of the year.
Customer base evolutions compared to the beginning of the
year and H1 2011 are as follows:
Poweo's customer base evolutions over H1 2012, before the
merger, reflect a portfolio management oriented towards
refocus and control of the financial situation.
Key consolidated financials of Poweo for H1 2012 are
presented below:
in million euros (unaudited) | H1 2012 | H1 2011 | Variation |
Electricity generation Electricity sales Gas sales Services and others Transport and taxes | 48.9 47.9 53.0 5.8 39.6 | 72.5 102.4 39.6 11.0 41.2 | -32.5% -53.2% 33.8% -47.1% -3.8% |
Revenues excluding Energy management | 195.2 | 266.6 | -26.8% |
Energy Management | 25.2 | 8.1 | 209.8% |
Consolidated revenues | 220.4 | 274.7 | -19.8% |
Cost of sales | -198.3 | -242.2 | -18.1% |
Gross margin | 22.1 | 32.6 | -32.1% |
Operating expenses | -30.7 | -41.9 | -26.8% |
EBITDA (1) | -8.6 | -9.3 | 8.2% |
Depreciation, amortisation & other profits and losses | -9.4 | -49.3 | -81.0% |
EBIT (2) | -17.9 | -58.7 | 69.4% |
Financial result Corporation tax | -5.2 -1.9 | -9.0 6.7 | 42.5% ns |
Consolidated net result | -25.0 | -60.9 | 59.0% |
Net result - minorities' share Net result - Group share | -13.0 -12.0 | -20.4 -40.5 | 36.5% 70.4% |
(1) Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation
(2) Earnings before interest and tax
5
4. Conclusion
The merger-absorption created the the leading multi-energy
alternative operator in France, with 1 million customers and
approximately 10 TWh supplied.
Poweo Direct Energie is positioned as a sustainable leader
with a profitable growth profile.
Xavier Caïtucoli, Chief Executive Officer of Poweo Direct
Energie, declared: "Poweo Direct Energie is now fully
operational to achieve ambitious objectives. The
rationalization of the Group, the control of its core
businesses, the profitable upstream/downstream integration
strategy and its capacity to innovate are strong advantages
that will enable the Group, despite a regulation which is not
yet stabilized, to be on the edge of the expected necessary
energy transition."
Poweo Direct Energie will present to the financial community
the new Group, its strategy and perspectives before
publishing 2012 IFRS consolidated accounts.
Pro forma financials as of 30/06/2012 are available at the
following address: http://investisseurs.poweo.fr/
About POWEO DIRECT ENERGIE
Born out of the merger between Poweo and Direct Energie,
Poweo Direct Energie covers all businesses in the energy
value chain. It is involved in electricity and natural gas
generation, supply and distribution, thus guaranteeing the
company's balanced and sustainable development to meet the
needs of its customers. Poweo Direct Energie is the leading
alternative supplier of electricity in France and currently
has more than 1,000,000 residential and business customers.
Finally, Direct Energie develops a portfolio of Combined
Cycle natural Gas Turbine plants (CCGT). Direct Energie has
just won the tender organized by the government for the
construction of a 400MW CCGT plant in Brittany.
Poweo Direct Energie is listed on the Alternext compartment
of the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ALPWO / FR0004191674).
For more information please visit the company's website: www.direct-energie.com
Press Contact
Image Sept
Grégoire Lucas -
glucas@image7.fr - Tel + 33 (0)1 53 70 74 94
Marie Artzner -
martzner@image7.fr - Tel + 33 (0)1 53 70 74
31
Institutional contact
Ivan
Roussin -
ivan.roussin@poweo-direct-energie.com - Tel +33
(0)6 19 30 05 03
6
distributed by |