Oslo, 1 November 2006
Press release 9/2006
The spot price on NordPool climbed steeply during the quarter due to higher fossil fuel prices and a strained hydrological situation. Below average snow fall last winter, a dry summer and a lapse in Swedish nuclear energy as a result of safety issues are factors underlying the high prices. E-CO saw a 9 per cent increase in production at mid-year, but since production was very low in Q3, the Group's production is now 3 per cent behind last year's level. E-CO's reservoirs were somewhat below normal at end-quarter, but the filling ratio was better than the national average.
YTD operating revenues came to MNOK 1 825 at end-September. During the same months last year, operating revenues added up to MNOK 1 571. The rise in revenues is ascribable to higher power prices. As a result of hedging, however, the actual selling price has increased less than the spot price.
The operating profit of MNOK 1 240 was the result of an increase of MNOK 265 or 27 per cent relative to last year. The increase was generally ascribable to higher energy revenues.
Owing not least to less debt, the decline in net financial expenses caused earnings before tax to improve by MNOK 320 from last year to MNOK 985 at end-September 2006. However, the high spot price led to a steep increase in resource rent tax. The net profit was MNOK 402 during the first nine months of 2006. During the corresponding months of 2005, the net profit was MNOK 331, which translates into an increase of MNOK 71 or 21 per cent.
The average system price was 0.399 NOK/kWh at end-September 2006. By comparison, the average system price was 0.235 NOK/kWh during the same months of 2005. The Group obtained a Q3 selling price of about 0.295 NOK/kWh, compared with about 0.24 NOK/kWh in Q3 2005.
The Group's power production aggregated 6 112 GWh at end-September this year. During the comparable months of 2005, power production totalled 6 305 GWh.
At 30 September 2006, the Group's equity ratio was 33.9 per cent, as against 31.1 per cent at the beginning of the year and 32.5 per cent a year ago.
E-CO's reservoirs are somewhat below normal for this time of the year, so production is expected to be somewhat lower than usual in Q4. Production will nonetheless depend on precipitation and inflow during the rest of the year, as well as on the reservoir status at year-end 2006. A lower percentage of expected production has been hedged during the final quarter than what has been the case earlier in the year. Based on normal inflow conditions and the current price scenario, E-CO expects the profit in 2006 to be better than that in 2005.
Key figures - E-CO Energi (MNOK):
|
|
Q3 2006 |
Q3 2005 |
2005 |
|
Operating revenues |
1 825 |
1 571 |
2 310 |
|
Operating expenses |
(585) |
(596) |
(807) |
|
Operating profit/(loss) |
1 240 |
975 |
1 503 |
|
Profit/(loss) before tax |
985 |
665 |
1 098 |
|
Net profit |
402 |
331 |
647 |
|
Equity |
5 934 |
5 666 |
5 532 |
|
Liabilities and equity |
17 516 |
17 409 |
17 798 |
Contacts:
|
Hans Erik Horn |
President and CEO |
(+47) 241 16910 / (+47) 901 92942 |
|
Per-Arne Torbjørnsdal |
Senior vice president, Communications |
(+47) 241 16920/ (+47) 916 08196 |
