Spanish Gas Operator Hits Targets for H1

Spanish gas transmission system operator Enagas met its first-half financial targets with a net income of €236.3 ($277.3)mn, 9.4% up on the same period last year, it said July 28.  It carried out an analysis of its main investments (impairment test) in the second quarter  and found that it did not need to write down any investments on its balance sheet.

It expects the second half to be similar to the first, with a net income of about €440mn and it will pay a dividend. Gas demand has been steadily rising since the end of May and as of end June it was about 92% of last year, compared with 76% in April.

Its regasification terminals worked harder, vaporising 17% more LNG from 12.5% more tankers – 126 in all – than in the first six months of 2019.  The 12,000 km of gas pipelines and the 19 compressor stations operated at 100% availability and the contracted capacity of the storage facilities is at an all-time high.

More than 80% of its debt is at a fixed rate and there are no significant maturities until 2022. On April 17, Enagas finalised the increase of its stake in Tallgrass to 30.2% of the shareholding. The TransAdriatic Pipeline is now 96.4% complete and its commissioning is planned for the final quarter of 2020. Enagas has a 16% stake.

Enagas said it would ratify the commitment to increase the dividend by 5% in 2020, by at least 1% for each of 2021, 2022 and 2023, and to make "a long-term sustainable dividend" in 2024-2026.