AUDAX RENOVABLES: EBITDA AT €33.1 MILLION IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2019
Audax Renovables, a Spanish company dedicated to the marketing of electricity and gas and the generation of renewable 100% electricity, closed the first best half-year ever in terms of both turnover and EBITDA value. The union between the two activities - production and sale of energy - made it possible to close these first six months of 2019 with a turnover of 526.7 million euros, + 23.1% compared to what was achieved in the same period of 2018. Audax Renovables also obtained 6.76 million profits and increased its EBITDA by 110.3% to 33.1 million euros.
A growth that affected the various components of the Group. The good results of the energy sales division, both in the Spanish market and in those of the countries in which it is present - including Italy - has allowed it to increase the commercial margin of the 26%. At the same time, the energy generation division also increased its revenue by 18%, mainly thanks to greater use of wind power and a higher average energy price (in the half-year). This concerned both the Spanish market, where it was 3% higher, and the Polish one, where the price of "green certificates" was 80% higher than that recorded at the same time in 2018. In this way, the Power generation added 18% to its turnover compared to the previous year.
As announced during the Capital Markets Day, the company continues with its asset turnover and debt reduction policy. And the financial one was reduced by more than 26.8%.
During these first six months of the year, Audax Renovables has formalized several PPA agreements (Power Purchase Agreements) for the long-term purchase of energy generated by photovoltaic systems. In February, a twenty-year contract was signed with WElink for the purchase and sale of electricity at a fixed price. Thanks to it, Audax Renovables will acquire the energy produced by the Solara4 and Ourika photovoltaic parks, in Portugal, and by other similar projects developed by WElink also in the Iberian peninsula up to involving, at full capacity, 708 MW of installed power. Likewise, in March, an agreement was signed with Trina Solar, a world leading company in the photovoltaic sector, for the purchase of electricity from renewable sources; also lasting 20 years, the contract envisages reaching an installed capacity of 300 MW.
Both operations, designed to allow the purchase of clean energy at a better price, will contribute to consolidating the Group's pre-eminent position in the sale of energy to Spanish SMEs: today Audax is ranked fourth nationally.
The good results obtained, the financial solidity and future growth prospects have led to obtaining the BBB- rating, with a tendency towards stability, granted by Axesor, the first Spanish rating agency.
At the end of this first part of 2019, there were over 317 thousand customers, +5.7% compared to the same period of 2018. The 79.6% concerns the supply of electricity, while the remaining 20.4 refers to gas. Audax Renovables' goal is to reach over 500 thousand customers and 15TWh of distributed energy by 2022, with over 1,500 million euros in revenue and 100 million euros in EBITDA. All this while doubling profitability and easing financial leverage due to high cash generation.
The achievement of these objectives will allow Audax Renovables to strengthen its leadership as the first independent energy sales company in the Spanish SME sector and to replicate the success achieved at home also on the markets of Italy, Portugal, Germany, Holland, France, Poland and Panama.
Finally, it should be remembered that the value of the Group's shares listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange appreciated by 48.43% in this first half-year, with average values still high.
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Audax Renovables is the result of the merger between Audax Renovables and Audax Energía. The result was an energy group operating in 8 countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Holland, Germany, Poland and Panama), with over 500 employees and a turnover of more than 1,200 million euros per year.
Audax Energia Italia was born in 2014; today it supplies gas electricity to over 55 thousand domestic and business customers.
