E.ON splits

At this year’s Annual Shareholders Meeting E.ON also presented its first-quarter results. E.ON’s EBITDA declined by 9 percent relative to the year-earlier quarter, its underlying net income by 15 percent. The Generation segment’s earnings were negatively affected by overhaul work at a number of nuclear power stations and by the sale and decommissioning of fossil-fueled power plants. Lower prices for oil, gas, and condensates had a significant adverse impact on earnings at the Exploration & Production segment. EBITDA declined at the Renewables segment as well owing to lower wholesale power prices (which primarily affected its hydro business) and structural changes in the wind and solar business resulting from the company’s build-and-sell strategy. By contrast, earnings at the sales and network business of E.ON’s Germany and Other EU Countries segments were stable to higher. The Global Commodities segment also recorded a significant earnings increase. E.ON’s power sales were unchanged relative to the prior-year period, whereas its gas sales were markedly higher due to the colder winter.

CFO Klaus Schäfer said: “We continue to expect our full-year 2015 EBITDA to be between €7 and €7.6 billion and our underlying net income to be between €1.4 and €1.8 billion. The negative trend in oil prices and exchange rates slowed in the first quarter, but we continue to anticipate adverse factors as the year moves forward. By contrast, we expect our business in Germany to improve for the year as a whole.”