REN Redes Energeticas Nacionais : posts net profit of €88.9M

•EBITDA reached €364.4M

•Average cost of debt down to 2.6%

•Best September ever in wind production in Portugal

REN - Redes Energéticas Nacionais had a net profit of 88.9 million euros in the first nine months of 2017. EBITDA amounted to €364.4M, a year-on-year increase of 2%, reflecting the contribution of the 42.5% stake REN has in the Chilean Electrogás since February. Electrogás had an operational and financial performance in line with expectations, while maintaining high levels of service quality.

Net Profit grew €18.4M in the first nine months of the year, driven by a robust financial performance, sustained by the decrease in the average cost of debt to 2.6%, which compares to the 3.5% recorded in the first nine months of 2016. The financial performance continues to be affected by the negative effect of the Energy Sector Extraordinary Contribution (CESE), which amounted to €25.8M in this period.

After the closing of accounts, on 4 October, REN completed the acquisition of EDP Gás, now called REN Portgás. The materialization of this operation is a significant step from REN, which thus reinforces its commitment to the operation in Portugal.

The North American financial rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) reaffirmed the BBB- rating given to REN, maintaining the positive outlook, reflecting trust in the company's future following the announcement of its participation in Electrogás and the acquisition of EDP Gás.

The quality of REN's service in the first nine months of 2017 remained at high levels, in spite of the major challenges stemming from the fires that ravaged the country. The effective and preventive management of the resources enabled finishing the period 0 seconds of interruption in natural gas and 5.4 seconds of interruption in electricity.

Natural gas was the dominant source of energy in the production of electricity in Portugal during the first nine months of 2017, providing 34% of the energy in the production of electricity, above the 19% recorded in the same period of the previous year, ahead of coal, which accounted for 25% of the energy, rising from 20% in the same period of the previous year. The prevalence of hydropower observed in these nine months of 2016 was undermined this year by adverse meteorological conditions. In 2017, hydropower amounted to 12%, a sharp decline in comparison with the 33% recorded in the first nine months of 2017. Wind power remained stable as a source of energy, with 22% in both periods.

In 2017, REN had its best September (historically, September is the month with less wind production) in the history of wind generation in Portugal, with a capability index of 1.22 (historical average of 1), higher than the previous maximum of 1.1.

After the end of the third quarter, during October, the National Natural Gas Transmission Network recorded a new all-time record of natural gas transmission for one year, surpassing 2010's record of 57679 GWH. In this month, Sines Terminal also surpassed the previous record of gasified natural gas for the National Natural Gas Transmission Network for one year, with 31.5 TWh.

These values show the crucial role the national Natural Gas infrastructure has in ensuring supply for general consumption, and for the power sector in particular. It should be noted that, on 21 June 2017, an all-time high of 120.6 GWh was reached in the daily consumption of natural gas for power production.