English Lithuanian
Published: 2022-05-19 08:15:00 CEST
Ignitis grupė
Interim information

Interim report for the first quarter of 2022: growth driven by Green Generation

AB “Ignitis grupė” (hereinafter – the Group) publishes its Interim report for the first quarter of 2022, which is attached to this notice, and announces that the Group’s Adjusted EBITDA grew by 42.6% to EUR 111.4 million compared to Q1 2021. The increase was mainly driven by the Green Generation segment due to the launch of Pomerania wind farm in Poland and better results of hydro portfolio. Green Generation Adjusted EBITDA accounted for almost 2/3 of the Group's total results in Q1 2022.

In Q1 2022, the Group’s investments amounted to EUR 43.1 million and were higher by 48.6% compared to Q1 2021. It is mainly due to higher investments in Networks segment mainly due to more new connection points and upgrades.

In Q1 2022, the Group’s green share of electricity generated increased by a third to 93.6% (from 61.0% in Q1 2021).

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The Group condemns Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. This goes against our values, and we have taken and will continue to take actions supporting Ukraine and its people as well as human rights and energy independence.

Even though natural gas supply is not the core business of the Group, in relation to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we suspended natural gas purchases from Gazprom by replacing its supply with LNG cargoes. This, together with increase in market prices, led to an increase in working capital needs. In order to ensure market demand and uninterrupted gas supply as well as to fund working capital needs, the Group concluded credit line agreements with banks, with a total limit of around EUR 400 million. Even though there are additional risk factors, proper actions have been taken to manage them and no significant changes in risk levels of key risks of the Group were recorded. The Group constantly monitors the situation and analyses the latest information and changes in external factors, and their impact on the Group. In the same manner, the Group also ensures uninterrupted supply of energy and business continuity.

Shareholder returns

A dividend of EUR 0.600 per share for the second half of 2021 was confirmed by the Group’s General Meeting of Shareholders and paid out in April 2022. In line with the Dividend Policy we distributed a dividend of EUR 1.19 per share for the year 2021, corresponding to EUR 87.6 million.

Outlook for 2022

Following the solid performance of the Green Generation segment in Q1 2022, 2022 Adjusted EBITDA guidance has been increased to EUR 330–360 million (from EUR 290–335 million indicated in Annual report 2021).

Business development

Since the end of 2021 we expanded our Green Generation pipeline by around 230 MW (out of which around 80 MW in Q1 2022) with greenfield projects, by securing land plots for onshore wind and solar projects in Lithuania and Poland.
We also expect our Green Generation expansion to speed up even more as changes have been made in the renewables related legislation in 2022. Also, to increase energy independence, the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy presented the energy “Breakthrough” package (link in Lithuanian). Despite it’s still pending approval in the Parliament, its goal is to speed up the development of renewables, mainly by easing the excess requirements for environmental impact assessment and sanitary protection zones and establishing a framework of a support scheme for local communities.

In addition, an important milestone was also reached on Lithuanian offshore wind development front. On 31 March 2022 the Parliament of Lithuania adopted amendments to legislation foreseeing the start of the tender on 1 September 2023. The amendments, amongst other changes, also determined the winner selection method, support (CfD) and grid connection (developer build) models. The next milestones include passing resolutions on specific tender requirements (e.g., experience and financial capability) by 1 July 2022 and an approval of tender rules by the national regulatory authority (National Energy Regulatory Council, NERC) by 1 September 2022.

Currently, all our Green Generation projects are fully on track with a minor deviation in the interim milestone of Vilnius CHP’s biomass unit (73 MWe, 169 MWth). We still expect the project’s COD to take place in Q2 2023, however, due to a global supply chain disruption and workforce shortage, mainly affected by the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, generation of first energy has been rescheduled to Q1 2023 (from Q4 2022).

On the Networks side, despite the supply chain disruptions, we have successfully continued maintenance and expansion works. Smart meter roll-out project is on track with meters currently being metrologically certified in the EU as well as an ongoing process of registration in Lithuanian Metrology Inspectorate. The first batch of them has been received for testing in Q1 2022. Currently, the basic information system of smart meters is being tested and should be finalised in Q2 2022, followed by the start of their installation. The target to complete the mass roll-out process by the end of 2025 remains unchanged.

Sustainability

A significant part of the Q1 2022 was devoted to the preparation of the GRI-aligned comprehensive Sustainability Report for 2021. We continue to refine our disclosures to provide a wide set of stakeholders a clear view of our performance and progress. In addition, we have calculated our GHG emissions for the year 2021 and the calculations were externally verified. Total emissions decreased by 11.4% compared to 2020. And finally, we became the first Lithuanian company to receive the prestigious Top Employer 2022 Lithuania certificate from the Top Employers Institute, which demonstrates that our HR practices and working conditions are aligned with highest international standards.

Corporate changes

Q1 2022 was also marked with changes on the Group’s corporate governance front as new members of the Management Board have been elected by the Supervisory Board. 3 out of 5 of the members have served in the previous term of the Management Board, including CEO, thus, allowing to comfortably continue the Group’s development. 

Key financial indicators (APM) for Q1 20221

EUR, millions Q1 2022 Q1 2021 Change
EBITDA 91.7 87.4 4.9%
Adjusted EBITDA 111.4 78.1 42.6%
Green Generation 70.0 19.0 268.4%
Networks 45.1 44.1 2.3%
Flexible Generation 4.9 7.9 (38.0%)
Customers & Solutions (9.7) 6.1 n/a
Other2 1.1 1.0 10.0%
Adjusted EBITDA margin 11.0% 20.3% (9.3 pp)
Net profit 46.8 43.0 8.8%
Adjusted net profit 61.1 35.1 74.1%
Investments 43.1 29.0 48.6%
FCF  (138.3) 30.9 n/a
ROE LTM 8.3% 12.0% (3.7 pp)
Adjusted ROE LTM 9.9% 8.9% 1.0 pp
ROCE LTM 6.8% 10.2% (3.4 pp)
Adjusted ROCE LTM 8.7% 7.7% 1.0 pp
  31.03.2022 31.12.2021 Change
Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA LTM, times 2.73 2.88 (5.2%)
FFO LTM/Net debt 29.7% 30.5% (0.8 pp)

1 Due to Networks Methodology update, change in accounting policy and reclassifications as well as reduction of management adjustments, all financial indicators were recalculated retrospectively for all quarters of the year 2021 (for more information, see Annual report 2021 section ‘Annual results’ part ‘Significant changes in reporting period of 2021’).
.2 Other – other activities and eliminations (consolidation adjustments and related party transactions), including financial results of the parent company. More information about it is disclosed in the First quarter 2022 Interim report section ‘6.2 Parent company’s financial statements’.

Earnings call

In relation to the announcement of the interim report for the first quarter of 2022, an earnings call will be held on 19 May 2022 at 1:00 pm Vilnius / 11:00 am London time.

To join the earnings call, please register at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/jhvcmmsb

Alternatively, you can join the earnings call through the dial-in numbers below:
Lithuania, Vilnius: +370 5 214 0081
United Kingdom, London: +44 20 7192 8338
United States, New York: +1 (646) 7413-167

Event Passcode: 6268094

Questions can be directed in advance to the Group’s IR, after registering for the earnings call or live during the call.

Presentation slides will be available prior to the call:
https://ignitisgrupe.lt/en/reports-and-presentations

The interim report, including fact sheet (in Excel) will be available for download at:
https://ignitisgrupe.lt/en/reports-and-presentations

For additional information, please contact:

Communications

Laura Beganskienė
+370 654 24958
laura.beganskiene@ignitis.lt

Investor Relations

Ainė Riffel-Grinkevičienė
+370 643 14925
aine.riffel-grinkeviciene@ignitis.lt

Attachment



First quarter 2022 Interim report.pdf