Engie reduces Russian gas exposure in Q2

French energy group Engie said July 29 it had "substantially reduced" Russian gas exposure having bought 10TWh of additional gas volumes from the market to protect French security of supply and boost gas storage levels.

In its second quarterly update, Engie reported turnover of €43.1bn ($44bn) for the first half of 2022, up 72.3% year/year. Engie said EBITDA amounted to €7.5bn versus €5.2bn in January to June last year.

Engie's financial exposure to Gazprom contracts in the event of a complete loss of Russian piped gas now amounted to a "one-off short position" for around 4TWh, while its physical exposure equates to just 4% of total European gas deliveries, down from 20% one year ago.  Engie also has hedging contracts to cover further cutbacks at Russian gas pipelines into Europe.

Net financial debt increased to €26.3mn, however, rising by around €1bn over the six months. Engie said its EBITDA/economic net debt ratio was now 3.0x, versus just 0.6x at the end of last year.

Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor said: “ENGIE continues to perform strongly, benefiting from the strength of our integrated business model.

"We have taken actions to significantly reduce and minimize our exposure to Russian gas and the H1 performance announced today positions us well to deliver strong results in 2022, despite uncertainties from the prevailing energy market context."