Lausanne – With adjusted EBITDA of CHF 787 million, Alpiq reports a strong half-year result and very sound operating liquidity of CHF 1.7 billion. The strategic focus on the core business in selected countries initiated at the end of 2021, enhanced risk management and the new steering mechanism are taking effect. In addition, Alpiq’s Board of Directors has appointed Amédée Murisier to succeed Michael Wider as Head of the Switzerland Division. Amédée Murisier, currently Head of Hydro Power Generation, will take over the new role on 1 March 2024. Michael Wider will retire at the end of February 2024.
In the first half year, Alpiq reported a very good performance and recorded a considerably better result than for the same period of the previous year.
Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq
“The results show that we have done our homework by sharpening our focus, taking fewer risks and significantly improving our collaboration. These efforts are now also reflected in the good figures across all areas of the business.”
Although the adjusted net revenue fell by 29 percent compared to the same period of the previous year due to the lower price level on the energy markets, Alpiq was able to significantly grow its earnings thanks to a greatly improved operating performance and greater efficiency.
| Half-year 2023/1 | Half-year 2022/1 | |
| Net revenue (in CHF million) | 4,854 | 6,869 |
| EBITDA (in CHF million) | 787 | 114 |
| EBIT (in CHF million) | 732 | 55 |
| Net income (in CHF million) | 568 | -5 |
Assets including Asset Trading made a particularly high contribution to the result in the first six months of 2023 with adjusted EBITDA of CHF 592 million. The flexibility and consistently high availability of the power plants played a key role in this context, allowing Alpiq to generate energy when it was needed most. In addition to maintaining the hydropower reserve to strengthen the security of supply in Switzerland, Alpiq made a significant contribution to grid stability in various markets with its flexible power plants and ancillary services.
Although volatility was significantly lower than in the previous year, the Trading business delivered stable earnings in the first half-year, contributing CHF 58 million to adjusted EBITDA. Alpiq is active in trading in the electricity markets in western and eastern Europe as well as in the cross-border electricity business and in the gas business.
Alpiq’s Origination business had a strong first half-year, posting adjusted EBITDA of CHF 178 million. Intensive marketing and a longstanding presence in the various markets have resulted in high customer loyalty and proximity to key accounts. The main drivers of the strong result are persistently good sales in France and Italy combined with strong results from the intraday business in Germany, Italy and Spain.
Historic levels of market turbulence had weighed heavily on the non-operating result of the previous-year period. These valuation effects and the negative performance of the decommissioning and waste disposal funds for nuclear power plants were not repeated in the first half of 2023. Both these factors had a positive impact on net income according to IFRS, which at CHF 744 million represents a significant increase on the net loss of CHF 592 million posted in the same period of the previous year.
Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq
“Achieving a healthy result is centrally important in enabling the urgent investment in the security of supply and climate protection. We continue to make targeted investments in renewable production, flexibility and storage.”
In the first half of 2023, Alpiq maintained a consistently high level of liquidity. Operating liquidity stood at around CHF 1.7 billion at the end of June 2023. On top of this, there are undrawn lines of credit of around CHF 700 million.
Luca Baroni, CFO of Alpiq
“With total headroom of around CHF 2.4 billion, the situation was comfortable throughout the first half-year and we always had considerable room for manoeuvre.”
In addition, Alpiq successfully placed bonds on the capital market in March, raising long-term funds of CHF 375 million. On the strength of the excellent performance of the first half-year and the company’s strong earnings power as well as the sound liquidity situation, the Board of Directors of Alpiq Holding Ltd. proposes to pay out an extraordinary dividend of CHF 93 million.
Although the situation on the energy markets has somewhat eased, there is still uncertainty about developments in the second half of 2023. Nevertheless, Alpiq is confident about the second half of the year thanks to its highly flexible production plant portfolio, its well-positioned Trading operations and its proven Origination business. A significant portion of the shift in results from previous years will then also have a positive impact on the IFRS result. The liquidity forecast is likewise good. As things stand at present, Alpiq expects net liquidity to increase again in the second half of the year.
Amédée Murisier will become the new Head of Alpiq’s Switzerland Division from 1 March 2024. The 41-year-old Swiss national succeeds Michael Wider, who will retire at the end of February 2024.
Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq
“I would like to thank Michael personally and on behalf of Alpiq for his tireless and valuable commitment to the company and express my deepest respect for his work. It was an honour and a pleasure to work with Michael for so long.”
Michael Wider has played a key role in shaping Alpiq and EOS for more than 20 years, and the Swiss energy industry for even longer – also as President of the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies since 2017. In this time, Alpiq has overcome great challenges and undergone significant change. It is to his credit that Alpiq’s Swiss production has emerged stronger from this period. Under his leadership, the Nant de Drance pumped storage power plant was built and successfully inaugurated a year ago.
His successor Amédée Murisier will take over as Head of the Switzerland Division from 1 March 2024. Murisier has been with Alpiq since 2015 and has been Head of the Hydro Power Generation business unit since 2019. After graduating from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) as a civil engineer, he worked in the Swiss energy industry as an engineer and later for several years in strategic management consulting in the US, where he also completed an MBA programme at Columbia University.
Johannes Teyssen, Chairman of Alpiq
“As business unit head at Alpiq, Amédée was responsible for large maintenance programmes in the hydropower plant portfolio and successfully managed projects at Alpiq to enlarge the winter storage. He is well versed in the regulatory and political aspects of the Swiss energy market. We are convinced that he is well equipped for this new challenge.”
Alpiq is a leading Swiss energy services provider and electricity producer that operates throughout Europe. It offers its customers comprehensive and efficient services in the fields of energy generation and marketing as well as energy optimisation. Alpiq has been generating climate-friendly and sustainable electricity from carbon-free Swiss hydropower for more than 100 years. The power plant portfolio also comprises shares in two Swiss nuclear power plants as well as flexible thermal power plants, wind farms and photovoltaic facilities in Europe. Alpiq Holding Ltd. is a private stock corporation in majority private ownership. It is fully controlled by the three shareholder groups of Schweizer Kraftwerksbeteiligungs-AG (SKBAG), the Consortium of Swiss Minority Shareholders (KSM) and EOS Holding SA (EOS). The Alpiq Group has around 1,200 employees and is headquartered in Lausanne.
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