Wind helps EDPR to double pre-tax profit

EDPR’s pre-tax profits for the first three quarters of 2012 were €150.3 million, up from €76.6 million during the first nine months of 2011.

These came on revenues of €936.2 million for Q1 to Q3 2012, up 22% on the same period last year.

The key driver for this revenue increase was the firm’s electricity production from wind farms, which was up 11% to 13.3GWh thanks to an increase in installed capacity year-on-year of 429MW and the portfolio’s average load factor rising from 28% to 29%.

Additionally it was helped by a stronger selling price for electricity in Europe, up 11% year on year to €63.9/MWh; and improved market prices in the US combined with a favourable foreign exchange rate from dollars to euros.

Profits were also helped by EDPR’s strategy to extend the operational lifetime of its turbines to 25 years, which helps spread the cost of investment in and the depreciation of its assets.

Away from operational revenues and costs, EDPR further strengthened its balance sheet by almost halving the amount it invested in new capacity for the first nine months of 2012, compared to the first nine months on 2011.

The firm’s total capital expenditure across Europe, the US and Brazil totalled just €267 million up to Q3 2012, compared to €516 million for the first nine months of 2011.