RWE tops 2022 guidance

January 26 (Renewables Now) - RWE AG (ETR:RWE) has trounced its own forecast for 2022 as earnings and profit more than doubled driven by the strong performance of the hydro, biomass and gas and supply and trading units as well as expanded renewable capacity.

The German group's adjusted net income came in at EUR 3.22 billion (USD 3.5bn) and the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the core business, including renewables and supply and trading, totalled EUR 5.55 billion, RWE said on Wednesday, citing preliminary figures. Both figures were far above the upper end of the group's forecast which was increased in July.

The better-than-expected performance was a result of higher earnings from short-term power plant deployment and higher international generation margins in the hydro, biomass and gas unit as well as strong trading results across almost all commodities and regions in the supply and trading segment.

In addition, the financial performance was bolstered by the addition of new renewable generation capacity. The Essen-based power major connected to the grid the 857-MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm in the UK at the beginning of 2022 and the 342-MW Kaskasi wind park in the German North Sea started feeding power into the grid at the end of the year. This led to a 27% increase in the adjusted EBITDA of the offshore wind segment.

More details about RWE's financial results in 2022 are available in the table below.

Amounts in EUR million	Outlook 2022 (July)	2022	2021
Adjusted EBITDA Offshore Wind	1,350-1,600	1,412	1,110
Adjusted EBITDA (loss) Onshore Wind/Solar	900-1,100	827	258
Adjusted EBITDA Hydro/Biomass/Gas	1,400-1,700	2,369	731
Adjusted EBITDA Supply & Trading	significantly above 350	1,161	769
Adjusted EBITDA Core business	4,300-4,800	5,559	2,761
Adjusted EBITDA Coal/Nuclear	650-750	751	889
Adjusted EBITDA Group	5,000 - 5,500	6,310	3,650
Adjusted EBIT	3,400 - 3,900	4,567	2,185
Adjusted net income	2,100 - 2,600	3,228	1,554

"In the past year, we continued to successfully expand our portfolio of wind farms and solar plants and we significantly increased our total net cash investments to EUR 4.4 billion. The 2022 business performance underlines the Group’s strategy 'Growing Green',” commented CFO Michael Mueller.

The final results for 2022 will be published on March 21.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.088)