PPC has reported a 2.2 percent fall in turnover for 2015, down to 5,735.7 million euros from 5,863.6 milion euros in 2014 and net losses of 102.5 million euros following a net profit of 91.3 million euros in 2014.
The corporation’s EBITDA figure fell by 154.8 million euros in 2015, a 14.8 percent year-on-year decline. The EBITDA margin fell to 15.5 percent from 17.9 percent as a result of the reduced turnover and provision increase, all of which counterbalanced energy cost reductions. Pretax losses of 42.6 million euros were incurred in 2015 following a pretax profit of 223.3 million euros in 2014.
PPC’s analytical report follows:
PPC GROUP 2015 FINANCIAL RESULTS
Athens, March 29, 2016
Summary Financial Results
2015 2014
Turnover
€5,735.7m. €5,863.6m.
Turnover adjusted for one – offs
€5,765.7 m. €5.863,6m.
EBITDA €828.4 m. € 1,022.1 m.
EBITDA margin 14.4% 17.4%
EBITDA adjusted for one – offs
€892.4 m. €1,047.2 m.
EBITDA margin adjusted for one – offs
15. 5 % 17.9 %
Pre – tax profits / (losses) ( €106.6 m.) €137.6m.
Pre – tax profits / (Losses) adjusted for one – offs
(€ 42. 6m.) €223.3m.
Net income / (Loss)* ( €102.5m. ) € 91.3 m.
*The nominal corporate tax rate for 2015 increased to 29% from 26% in 2014.
In 2015, ΕΒΙΤDΑ adjusted for one-offs decreased by €154.8 m. (-14.8%) compared to 2014, with the respective margin settling at 15.5% compared to 17.9%. The development is attributed to turnover reduction and to the increase of provisions, which counterbalanced the reduction of energy mix expenses, as described later.
Consequently, in 2015, due to the increased depreciation by € 131.7 m, pre tax losses on an adjusted basis amounting to € 42.6 m were recorded compared to pre tax profits of € 223.3 m in 2014.
Revenues
Group turnover decreased by €127.9m (2.2%), to €5,735.7 m in 2015 from €5,863.6 m in 2014. The reduction is attributed to:
a. The reduction of revenues from electricity sales in 2015 by €107.5m compared to 2014 (€ 5,547.1 m vs € 5,654.6 m), due to:
– PPC’s market share loss in the electricity market
– the refund of the fixed charge to consistent residential customers amounting to €30 m, (which, on a cash basis, will impact 2016 financial results)
– the reduction of certain business tariffs, implemented since September 2015, which had an impact of €13m on 4Q2015 revenues.
b. The reduction of network users’ participation for their connection to the network by €15.8 m, as a result of lower building activity and of lower rate of new RES comissioning.
In detail:
Total electricity demand increased by 3.1% in 2015, to 58,772 GWh versus 57,032 GWh in 2014.
Excluding exports and pumping, electricity demand increased by 2% and is attributed to the increase of demand by 8.6% in 1Q2015 due to colder weather conditions compared to 1Q2014.
In 4Q2015, total electricity demand decreased by 3.6%, whereas excluding exports and pumping, the decrease was 2.9%. The reduction of domestic demand is mainly attributed to milder weather conditions in 4Q2015 compared to the respective period of 2014.
For the full year, domestic sales declined by 0.5% (257 GWh), however in 4Q2015 they declined by 5.9% (725 GWh), as a result of the aforementioned lower demand as well as of the market share reduction of PPC. PPC’s market share declined from 97.7% at the end of 2014 to 94.5% at the end of 2015.
PPC’s electricity generation and imports covered 63.4% of total demand in 2015 (61.2% in the Interconnected System), while the corresponding percentage in 2014 was 66.9% (65% in the Interconnected System). PPC’s market share in electricity generation, as a percentage of the total load in the Interconnected System was 5.2% in 2015 compared to 59.5% in 2014.
The reduction is attributed to a large extent to the increase of imports from third parties by 16.4% (1,152 GWh) as well as to the increased RES generation from third parties by 12.4% (1,034 GWh), whereas lignite-fired generation declined by 14.5% (3,291 GWh). The increase of electricity imports was recorded in the first half of 2015 and stems mainly from Balkan countries due to the lower electricity generation cost, including the fact that their generation cost is not burdened with CO2 emission right expenses.
In 4Q2015, electricity imports both from PPC and to a larger extent from third parties, declined by 8% (64 GWh) and 45.5% (1,079 GWh) respectively. This development seems to be mainly attributed to the reduction of the average System Marginal Price (SMP) to € 49.6/MWh in 4Q2015 compared to € 59.2/MWh in 4Q2014, which is the result of declining oil prices and, consequently, of lower natural gas prices.
Hydro generation in 2015 increased by 38% (or 1,485 GWh), with the largest part of the increase taking place in 1Q2015 (increase of 1,151 GWh) due to exceptional hydrological conditions that prevailed in that quarter. In the fourth quarter, hydro generation decreased by 16.5% (170 GWh), due to lower hydro inflows in the reservoires.
Natural gas fired generation was quite increased by 125% (1,000 GWh approximately) in 4Q2015 compared to 4Q2014, also due to energy generated from the new CCGT unit “Megalopolis V” of PPC. For the full year, natural gas fired generation increased by 12.3%.
Operating expenses
Operating expenses before depreciation, increased by € 65.8 m (1.4%) from €4,841.5m in 2014 to €4,907.3m.
More specifically:
Energy mix expenditure
Expenditure for liquid fuel, natural gas, third parties fossil fuel, CO2 and energy purchases decreased by €381.9m., or by 13.3% compared to 2014.
In detail:
The decrease in liquid fuel expense by €185.1m (24.1%), from €767.9m in 2014 to €582.8m in 2015 is attributed to the reduction of heavy fuel oil and diesel prices, expressed in euros, by 31.9% and 15.1% respectively, whereas electricity generation from liquid fuel marked an increase of 52 GWh. It is noted that the expense for the Special Consumption Tax imposed on liquid fuel, which is included in the total liquid fuel expense, increased by € 4.3m. from €140.1m in 2014 to €144.4 m in 2015 due to the fact that the expense is only driven by fuel quantities, which were higher for diesel. It is not in any way related to the volatility of fuel prices.
─ Natural gas expense decreased by €19.3 m (5.6%), from € 345.8m in 2014 to €326.5m in 2015, due to lower natural gas prices by 16.2%.
The relevant expense for the Special Consumption Tax on natural gas, which is also volume-driven and is not affected by commodity price, increased to €54.1 m in 2015 from € 49.4 m, due to the aforementioned increased natural gas-fired generation.
─ Third parties fossil fuel expense decreased by €16.8m to €57.6m.
─ Energy purchases expense from the System and the Network decreased by 14.9% from €1,341.7m in 2014 to € 1,142.3m. It is noted that the aforementioned expense includes an amount of €21.4 m for compensation of rooftop photovoltaics in the non interconnected islands, out of which €16.4m relate to previous years (2011-2014), as the relevant expenses had not been billed to PPC until December 2015 and €5m relate to 2015. The payment of this compensation is being carried out based on the billing of the market operator (LAGIE) to the Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO) and then to PPC.
─ Expenditure for PPC electricity imports, excluding expense for interconnection rights, reached € 132.1 m, increased by € 4.5m (3.5%), as a result of the increase in the volume of imports by 354 GWh, whereas, on the other hand, imports’ prices remained practically stable. Due to increased volume of imports, the expense for interconnection rights increased to € 15.1 m in 2015 from € 14 m in 2014.
─ Expenditure for CO2 emission rights amounted to € 251.1 m, an increase of €34.2 m compared to 2014, due to increased average price for CO2 emissions rights by approximately 32% from €5.53/tn to €7.32/tn, despite the reduction of CO2 emissions in volume terms by 12.5% to 34.3m tonnes in 2015 from 39.2 m tonnes, due to lower lignite-fired generation.
Payroll cost
The total payroll cost, including capitalized payroll and payroll of seasonal personnel, declined by €35 m. (3.5%) from € 1,005 m in 2014 to € 970 m in 2015.
In particular, payroll of permanent employees declined by €23.6m to € 922.6m in 2015 versus €946.2m in 2014, as a result of the decrease in the number of permanent employees on payroll by 216 to 18,356 on 31.12.2015 from 18,572 on 31.12.2014.
Provisions
Provisions for bad debt of Low and Medium Voltage customers amounted to €781m in 2015 compared to €309m in 2014, an increase of €472 m.
For High Voltage customers, the respective provisions amounted to €90m in 2015 versus € 76 m in 2014.
It is noted that bad debt provisions have been reduced by approximately €50m, an amount which corresponds to a conservative estimation of the positive impact of active settlements of overdue receivables from customers.
Apart from bad debt provisions, provisions have been also negatively impacted by an amount of €20.9m, which refers to the Special Consumption Tax for own-consumption of electricity generation for the period 2010 – 2015 (€ 17.6 m for the period May 2010 – December 2014 and € 3.3 m for 2015), following a relevant administrative act of Customs Authorities.