PPC continued in 2023 the positive trend of the previous years achieving key milestones in line with its strategy to build on the opportunities arising from the Energy Transition.

Total investments reached €2.6bn including the acquisition of the operations of Enel in Romania with significant uplift recorded in Renewables and Distribution capex. PPC’s installed capacity in Renewables reached 4.6GW at the end of 2023, currently having projects of 2.8GW in total in the “Under construction” or “Ready to build” stage, a capacity which corresponds to approximately 70% of the residual capacity needed to achieve the target of 2026.

Apart from organic growth, PPC pursued additional opportunities in the Renewables field proceeding to a strategic agreement with Intrakat Group for the joint development of a 2.7GW Renewables portfolio, currently having a gross pipeline of approximately 18GW.

As a result of the major transformation which began in 2019, PPC proceeds to the reinstatement of dividend distribution after 10 years. The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting of shareholders a dividend of €0.25/share.

In line with its commitment to become a leading SEE clean Utility and critical infrastructure and services player, PPC increased its Renewables capacity to 4.6GW in 2023, up by 32%, while at the same time investing €0.8bn in Renewables and Distribution projects, recording a 61% increase compared to 2022. At the same time, PPC further decreased its Scope 1 CO2 emissions by 34% from 14.8 m tons in 2022 to 9.7 m tons in 2023, making another decisive step towards a greener generation portfolio. These efforts have been also reflected to PPC’s score in CDP which increased to B- in 2023, marking a four notches improvement.

 

Financial Performance

Increased operational profitability in 2023 with recurring EBITDA at €1.3bn, up by 35%, driven by the higher contribution of the Distribution Business and the acquisition of the operations of Enel in Romania since 25.10.2023. On a pro forma basis, that is taking into account the contribution of the operations in Romania for the 12-month period of 2023, recurring EBITDA reached €1.5bn.

2023 results have been impacted by one off items of €32m in total mainly related to provisions for personnel’s severance payment whereas 2022 results by €302m in total, mainly related to the extraordinary contribution imposed on electricity generators for the period 1.10.2021 -30.6.2022 and provisions for personnel’s severance payment .

Pre-tax profits stood at €622m compared to €26m losses in 2022, mainly as a result of improved operational profitability.  Pre-tax results were also positively affected by the €234m bargain purchase gain recorded from the acquisition of Enel’s operations in Romania evidencing the attractive valuation achieved by PPC in the transaction. In addition, 2023 pre-tax profits include the €124m capital gain from the sale of former lignite areas to the Greek State which was recorded in Q2 2023 financial results.  In 2022, pre-tax results had been positively impacted by €198m, mainly related to a €177m reversal of the impairment of the investment in the new Ptolemaida V lignite unit.

Net Income stood at €485m from losses of €9m in 2022.

Disciplined financial position despite the high investments in 2023. PPC maintained a Leverage (Net debt/PF EBITDA) of 2x, well below the self-imposed ceiling of 3.5x, with net debt standing at €3.2bn as of 31.12.2023.

 

“2023 has been another pivotal year for PPC with strong results, progress in our Renewables roll out plan, reduction of our carbon footprint and conclusion of a major acquisition that provides us the opportunity to become a Leading South East Europe Clean Utility and Critical Infrastructure Player. We reinstate dividend distribution after 10 years as a result of the major transformation of PPC which started in 2019. We have now secured close to 70% of the residual capacity needed to achieve our 2026 target for Renewables capacity reducing substantially the execution risk of our plan. We continue to leverage on our integrated position, which has been providing resilience in our results while at the same time having the natural offtake for our investments in the Renewables field.  The strategy that we have been following has started to pay off and we are confident that delivering on our plan will eventually further increase the value for our shareholders, our customers and the society,” said Georgios Stassis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Public Power Corporation.

 

 

Outlook for 2024

For 2024, PPC reiterates the targets communicated at the Capital Markets Day in January 2024, despite lower wholesale market prices given the resilience of its integrated business, as it was the case during extraordinary conditions (covid, energy crisis). Specifically, PPC expects a recurring EBITDA of €1.7bn.

 

Retail activity

Electricity demand in Greece increased by 1.5% in Q4, compared to Q4 2022, resulting to a containment of the demand reduction to 1.7% for full year 2023. In Romania, electricity demand decreased by 5% in 2023 .

The average retail market share of PPC in Greece recorded a reduction to 56.5% in 2023 from 62.4% in 2022. In the Interconnected System, the respective market share decreased to 56.1% in December 2023 (from 63.3% in December 2022), while the average market share per voltage type was 48.0% (from 88.3%) in High Voltage, 40.7% (from 44.2%) in Medium Voltage and 63.2% (from 63.7%) in Low Voltage . In Romania, the average market share of PPC in electricity sales was 18% .

 

Generation activity

In generation, the average market share of PPC in Greece decreased to 39.1% in 2023 from 43.4% in 2022, mainly due to the lower production from natural gas fired units but also from lignite due to the gradual exit of PPC from lignite. In Romania, the average market share of PPC in generation from RES (wind/solar) reached 14.1%, close to the level of 2022 (13.5%).

The transition to cleaner energy sources continued with the reduction of installed capacity of lignite units by 0.9GW that was more than offset from the increase in RES installed capacity by 1.1GW. At the same time, the reduction of CO2 (Scope 1) emissions by 34% led to the improvement of CO2 emissions intensity to 0.5 tons per generated MWh from 0.66 tons per generated MWh in 2022.

 

Distribution activity

Distribution business continues to grow in line with our strategy to modernize our networks. Improvement has been recorded in 2023 in almost all performance indicators in both main countries that PPC is active, driven by increased capex and the acceleration of digital adoption. Specifically, SAIDI declined to 137 minutes (from 138 minutes) in Greece and to 89 minutes (from 91 minutes) in Romania. SAIFI remained stable in Greece at 1.8 times and in Romania it decreased to 2.5 times in (from 2.6 times).

 

Smart meters penetration has been quite high in Romania increasing to 47% (from 41%) and is expected to grow in Greece from the 10% it currently stands, once the wider roll out of smart meters starts.

 

The integration of Renewables stations in Greece showed signs of stabilization in 2023, following major growth in previous years with approximately 1GW was connected to the grid compared to 1.1GW in 2022. In Romania, significant increase was recorded with 0.4GW additions in 2023 compared to  0.1GW in 2022.