The Board of Directors of A2A S.p.A. has examined and approved the half year financial report at June 30, 2020

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H1 2020 capex in line with H1 2019 record levels at 250 million euro

EBITDA at 559 million euro, down 23 million euro on the first half of 2019 (-4%),
Effects of the Covid 19 emergency, mainly related to the energy scenario, affected BU Generation (-19 million euro).
Overall, other BUs stable.
 

Group net profit amounted to 154 million euro (166 million euro at June 30, 2019)
 

NFP at 3,433 million euro.
Excluding change in perimeter, the NFP fell to 3,311 million euro.
(3,154 million euro at December 31, 2019)

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Milan, July 30, 2020 – At today’s meeting of the Board of Directors of A2A S.p.A., chaired by Marco Patuano, the Board examined and approved the Half year financial report at June 30, 2020.

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“I believe that the role played by A2A, as the other multiutilities rooted in the territories, in a highly complicated context as the one generated by the health emergency” - comments Chief Executive Officer Renato Mazzoncini - “has been essential. The Group has managed to guarantee the usual, high quality of the services supplied, together with flexibility and safety. We have chosen” - Mr Mazzoncini continues - not to cut investments, which may be even higher at year end, and the initiatives in support of the territories served. The results achieved by the Group in the first half of the year are satisfactory: in fact, the considerable effects of COVID-19 mainly related to commodity prices have been almost entirely offset by the mitigation actions taken by the Group. We look to the future optimistically and are ready to do our part, playing an active role in the post-emergency recovery of the Country and in the energy transition phase”.
 

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A2A Group - Consolidated results at June 30, 2020

The first half of 2020 was characterised, starting March, by the emergency linked to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which had major repercussions on the world economic and financial context.

The economic/financial results of the period under review were impacted both by the effects that can be directly related to the health emergency and by the weak energy scenario starting from the fourth quarter of 2019, but also without doubt it was penalised by a global decline in consumption.
Despite the context characterised by a collapse in the demand and very critical pricing dynamics, the results recorded by A2A Group in the period only suffered a limited decline.

The health emergency entailed, albeit differently in the various countries struck by the pandemic, the adoption of drastic measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus, which resulted in a slowing down of production on the one hand, and a collapse in the domestic and global demand for goods and services, on the other. Italian Government, in particular, opted for a general lockdown of almost all economic activities in the two-month period March-April, which was then only gradually and carefully removed in May-June.

As regards energy consumption in particular, the net demand for electricity in Italy during the first half of 2020 was 143,513 GWh, showing a decline of 8.9% on the volumes recorded for the same period of 2019; during the first six months of this year, moreover, the demand for natural gas dropped by 10.8% on the same period of 2019, coming in at 35,842 Mmc.

In respect of energy commodity prices, during the first half of 2020, the decreasing trend of prices already in progress was accentuated by the spread of the medical emergency: the PUN baseload showed a decline of 41.5%, coming in at € 32.2/MWh, as compared with the €55.1/MWh booked for the first half of 2019; average prices are down, even during peak hours (-40.9% for the PUN peak load, which comes in at € 35.6/MWh). The average price of gas at the PSV in the period under review was equal to € 9.2/MWh, down by 51.1% compared to the same period the previous year.

Since the very beginning of the emergency, the A2A Group has been taking action to mitigate the possible negative impacts: on the one hand, it has assured continuity thanks to the extension, consistent with organisational requirements, of smart working, guaranteeing the health and safety of its employees; on the other, it has managed not to cut capex, which are in line with the first half of 2019, and, finally thanks to an effective containment of the operating costs and suitable risk management, to mitigate the current reduction of margins.

 

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