German Energy Giant Uniper Raises Earnings Outlook

German energy giant Uniper raised on Wednesday its earnings outlook for 2024 after reporting stronger-than-expected financial figures for the first half of the year.

Uniper, which the German government had to bail out at the start of the energy crisis in Europe in 2022, said today that it anticipates stronger than previously expected results for the first half of the financial year 2024.

Based on preliminary and unaudited figures, Uniper’s adjusted core earnings, or EBITDA, are expected to be in the range of $2 billion-$2.6 billion (1.9 billion to 2.4 billion euros) for the full year 2024, the company said.

That’s higher than the previous adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.6 billion-$2.17 billion (1.5 billion to 2 billion euros).

“Uniper now expects now for the full year 2024 improved earnings performance and adjusts its financial outlook accordingly,” the company said in a brief statement.

Uniper is slated to publish the detailed results for the first six months of the financial year 2024 on August 8, 2024.

Germany had to nationalize Uniper in 2022 to avoid its collapse amid soaring gas prices and a lack of Russian supply in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and the EU sanction barrage. The total bill for the nationalization came in at $53 billion.

To replace lost Russian gas volumes, European buyers switched to U.S. LNG, with exports of the commodity from the U.S. Gulf Coast soaring to record highs. Uniper has been especially active on the spot market, uncertain about long-term gas demand in Europe.

But Uniper managed to turn around its finances as early as 2023, when it booked an adjusted net income of $4.8 billion (4.432 billion euros), compared to a massive loss of $8 billion (7.4 billion euros) for 2022. Uniper benefited in particular from hedging transactions for coal- and gas-fired power plants and for its midstream gas business. Successful hedging transactions to cover the company’s open gas supply obligations boosted the 2023 earnings, too.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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