Ignitis grupė
Interim information

Interim report for the first half year of 2022: strong Green Generation performance but challenges on net working capital

AB “Ignitis grupė” (hereinafter – the Group) publishes its Interim report for the first half year of 2022, which is attached to this notice, and announces that the Group’s Adjusted EBITDA reached EUR 206.5 million. This was mainly driven by the Green Generation segment due to the launch of Pomerania wind farm in Poland and better performance of the operating assets. Green Generation Adjusted EBITDA accounted for almost 60% of the Group’s total result in H1 2022 and green share of electricity generated was 92.3%.

However, we suffered a negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA in Customers & Solutions and Flexible Generation segments. In H1 2022, Customers & Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was negative and suffered a loss of EUR 4.7 million. Flexible Generation result decreased two times to EUR 8.2 million.

In addition to that, due to the extreme situation in energy markets, the Group’s net working capital significantly increased by EUR 326.1 compared to 31 December 2021 and reached EUR 812.5 million. It was mainly caused by lower energy prices included in regulated customer tariffs compared to actual market prices (regulatory difference), the suspension of natural gas purchases from Gazprom and its replacement with LNG cargoes since the beginning of April 2022 (causing increase in inventory).

Net working capital increase led to a significantly negative free cash flow of minus EUR 247.2 million. Only small part of additional net working capital was financed by the increased Adjusted EBITDA, majority of it was financed through additional borrowing. Additional bank credit line agreements of around EUR 500 million were secured. This resulted in net debt increase to EUR 1.2 billion.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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

Business development

Since the end of 2021, we expanded our Green Generation pipeline by around 750 MW to 2.2 GW. This was mainly driven by the accelerated greenfield portfolio development which increased by around 730 MW to 900 MW (as of results announcement date).

We also started the development of the first hybrid solar park in Lithuania (Tauragė solar project) with a capacity of 22 MW while our Silesia WF (50 MW) in Poland reached the construction phase, and Moray West offshore wind project (850–900 MW), in which we hold a minority stake (5%), should reach final development steps in the coming months.

On the Networks side, despite the supply chain disruptions, we have successfully continued maintenance and expansion works, including smart meter roll-out. After the first batch of smart meters was received and tested in Q1 2022, we installed them in Q2 2022, and the mass roll-out kicked off shortly afterwards. Our target to complete the mass roll-out process by the end of 2025 remains unchanged.

Sustainability

After the reporting period, Ignitis (Customers & Solutions) received a platinum medal for its sustainability practices from EcoVadis, a ratings platform that focuses on sustainable supply chains. Ignitis was listed among the top 1% of the companies assessed globally by EcoVadis and among the top 3% of assessed companies in the sector. This is a great achievement not only for Ignitis, but also for the entire Group.

Shareholder returns and 2022 outlook

Subject to approval at the Group’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 29 September 2022, in line with the Dividend Policy, for H1 2022 we propose to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.624 per share, corresponding to EUR 45.2 million.

Following the strong performance of the Green Generation segment in H1 2022, we expect 2022 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to be in a range of EUR 360–420 million.

Key financial indicators (APM) for H1 2022¹

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 half year 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 half year 2022, an earnings call will be held on Tuesday, 23 August 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/6922ds4h

It is also possible to join the earning call by phone. To access the dial-in details, please register here. After completing the registration, you will receive dial-in details on screen and via email. You will be able to dial in using the provided numbers and the unique pin or select ‘Call me’ option and provide your phone details for the system to connect you automatically as the earnings call starts.

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

Presentation slides will be available prior to the conference 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

Artūras Ketlerius
+370 620 76076
arturas.ketlerius@ignitis.lt

Investor Relations

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

Attachment

• First half year 2022 interim report