Uniper posted an outstanding performance in the first half of 2023, confirming the positive momentum of the first quarter. In Düsseldorf, the now-full Board of Directors presented the first-half results and the company’s new strategy. Uniper focuses on its customers, flexible green energy, more environmentally friendly gases and the optimization of its activities.
Transformation towards a greener company
Uniper is transforming itself into a greener company and accelerating its transition to green, flexible energy production. Investments will be made in flexible and secure power plants, including solar and wind farms. The aim is to achieve 80% carbon-free generation capacity by 2030, and to stop producing coal-fired power by 2029. Scope 1 to 3 emissions will be carbon neutral by 2040, ten years ahead of schedule. Scope 1 and 2 will be carbon neutral by 2035. Uniper also plans to gradually decarbonize its gas business by using green gases such as hydrogen. Group CEO Michael Lewis assures:
“Our power and gas business is becoming increasingly carbon neutral, and our trading business, with its optimization and sourcing capabilities, is our platform for market and commodity interaction. Uniper’s expertise as a global trading company was a major reason why it was able to handle last year’s energy crisis so well. One of Uniper’s great advantages is that we can already use our balanced portfolio to manage the complexity of the energy market. We have green energy, but also flexible and programmable energy. You can’t have one without the other if you want security of supply. That’s why Uniper is going to develop both. Industry will always need an uninterrupted supply of gas, but with an increasing proportion of green gas. Our power and gas portfolio is already preparing us very well for a future where the two sectors will be increasingly integrated.”
Exceptional financial results
Uniper reported adjusted operating income of €3.701 billion in the first half of 2023, a sharp increase on the crisis year 2022 figure of -€757 million. This performance was largely due to the company’s excellent operating performance in a favorable market environment. Uniper benefited to a large extent from hedging transactions in its fossil fuel-based power generation and gas activities.
Michael Lewis: “Last year’s crisis demonstrated Uniper’s central role in the energy market. We were financially stabilized by the German federal government about eight months ago, and soon afterwards we managed to turn around. We have considerably diversified our gas supplies. Our supply obligations to municipal utilities and industrial customers for 2023 and 2024, which we had entered into before the Russian supply disruption, are almost entirely covered by forward transactions. Today, therefore, I can say with certainty that 2022 will not be repeated for us. Our successful turnaround and financial recovery have again given us room for further growth and corporate transformation. What matters most to me is that we remain the reliable partner for our customers that we have always been in the past, even during last year’s crisis. We also want to become greener faster so that we can offer our customers tailor-made energy solutions for their own transformation.”
The European Generation segment posted an adjusted operating profit of 1.465 billion euros. This result is mainly due to hedging and optimization transactions for fossil fuel power generation. In addition, it benefited from favorable price effects on its nuclear and hydroelectric activities in Sweden.
Outlook and transformation
Uniper expects outstanding financial performance for the full year 2023 and has adjusted its financial outlook accordingly. CFO Jutta Dönges stressed that these results were based on extraordinary effects and might not be repeated to the same extent in the years to come:
“These very good figures are the result of a solid operating performance in a favorable market environment. Nevertheless, it is important to stress that our earnings are largely based on one-off effects and are unlikely to recur on this scale in the coming years. Due to the recent price declines on the raw materials markets, Uniper’s earnings situation will normalize in the future. Our significantly improved earnings figures for the first half of the year have enabled us to revise upwards our financial outlook for fiscal 2023. We now expect full-year adjusted EBIT and adjusted net income in the tens of billions of euros. Our good results give us the impetus to implement our strategy, which will significantly accelerate Uniper’s transformation. Our shareholders will benefit in the long term.”
Despite this, Uniper remains resolutely committed to its transformation into a greener, more sustainable company. The company positions itself as a reliable partner for its customers, offering tailor-made energy solutions for their own transformation.
