Gas Boosts Endesa 1H Profits
Higher gas sales volumes and margins helped boost profits at Endesa, a leading Spanish power group controlled by Italy’s Enel.
The Spanish company announced July 24 that its first half profit increased by 15% to €752mn ($881mn). Its gas sales to third parties, including retail, grew by 2.3% year on year to 43.34 terawatt-hours (4.03bn m3) which generated a 7.6% increase in gas sales revenue to €1.29bn. Its margin on gas retail sales in Spain increased by 6% to €1.1/MWh year on year, and its share of the deregulated market crept up to 16.2% (from 16.1% six months earlier at end-2017) although its sales into that market fell by 1.9% year on year to 24.48 TWh.
Endesa also generated 4.5% of its power from gas at combined-cycle power plants (CCGTs). The 1.71 TWh it generated from gas in 1H2018 however was only 5% of its 34.9 TWh produced.
The company also announced July 24 that it had completed its acquisition of Empresa de Alumbrado Electrico de Ceuta, a power distributor in the Spanish north African enclave of Ceuta, for €84.2mn.
Endesa competes in the Spanish gas and power market primarily against Naturgy (formerly called Gas Natural) and Iberdrola.