(News Bulletin 247) – The renewable energy producer has reduced its gross operating profit forecast for the current financial year due to a widespread power outage in Brazil that occurred in mid-August. Its revenues were also stable over the first half, due to a reorientation of its service activities towards its internal needs.

Having entered the SBF 120 this year, in March to be exact, Voltalia has since experienced a very difficult run on the stock market, with its shares falling by more than 30%.

The 2022 results of the renewable energy producer were notably sanctioned (-9% on the day of their publication) by the market. The production of Voltalia, which operates wind, solar, hydroelectric and biomass plants, was then weighed down, among other things, by a lack of wind in Brazil and France which resulted in load factors lower than their long-term average. term.

Its publication of the first half of 2023 further cooled the market this Wednesday, with Voltalia shares falling 16.8% around 10:20 a.m., the biggest fall in the SBF 120.

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Outage in Brazil

The group indirectly controlled by the Mulliez family was forced to reduce its gross operating profit (EBITDA) target for the current financial year. The company previously expected to generate an EBITDA of between 275 million and 300 million euros in 2023. It is now targeting the bottom of this range, or around 275 million euros.

This lowering of the forecast is due to an event which occurred after the closing of the accounts for the first half of the year. In Brazil, a country which represents two thirds of the group’s installed capacity, a general power cut occurred on August 15, which cut off production at Voltalia’s power plants for a few hours. And measures taken by the executive are delaying the connection of the company’s new power stations.

“The exact origin of this breakdown of the national network is not yet known and a study is underway to determine the causes. Pending the conclusions, the electricity network authority has adopted, exceptionally, restrictive measures temporary measures for operating power plants (production capping) and new power plants ready to produce (postponement of connections to the network). These measures, which were to have a very short duration, are continuing to this day,” Voltalia explained in a communicated.

In passing, the company confirmed its 2027 objectives, including operating and construction capacities of 5 gigawatts, compared to 2.7 gigawatts currently, and an Ebitda of 475 million euros.

A stable turnover

Concerning its results for the first half of 2023, Voltalia’s turnover was stable at 198.9 million euros.

Energy sales activities increased by 44% to 138.3 million euros, supported by the improvement in production, which increased by 41%. The turnover of services, which include the development, construction and supply of equipment or even the operation and maintenance of power plants, saw its income jump by 82% to 271.2 million euros.

How can we explain then that incomes are stagnating? Quite simply because most of the revenue from “services” (210.5 million euros) comes from internal needs, and is therefore eliminated from the income statement. External turnover from services fell by 41% to 60.7 million euros, as Voltalia temporarily focused on its internal needs to “achieve growth in the portfolio of directly owned power plants”.

The company’s Ebitda increased by 18% to 56 million euros. The net loss widened to 19.4 million euros compared to 4.6 million euros a year earlier. This loss “reflects the seasonal nature of the electricity production of Voltalia’s fleet, the overweighting of service sales in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half and non-recurring items,” explained the company.