Bremen, 11 April 2017. Energiekontor AG has once again achieved a considerable increase in earnings in the 2016 financial year. While Group revenue increased by 5 percent to EUR 201.8 million (previous year: EUR 191.3 million), consolidated income before taxes (EBT) climbed nearly 20 percent to EUR 35.5 million (previous year: EUR 29.7 million). At EUR 25.3 million, consolidated net income (previous year: EUR 20.9 million) saw a year-on-year increase of 21 percent.

At the level of the AG, Energiekontor generated net income of EUR 28.7 million, thus 55 percent above the previous year’s level (EUR 18.5 million). The Management and the Supervisory Board will once again suggest a dividend of EUR 0.80 per share at the General Meeting on 23 May 2017.

The positive performance was mainly driven by the new wind farm in Hürth near Cologne, which had already been completed in the first half of 2016, and also three repowering projects (Debstedt and Breitendeich in Lower Saxony, and Grevenbroich in North Rhine-Westphalia). In addition, another solar park, the Nadrensee project, which Energiekontor had won in the first auction round in 2015, was completed and sold. Furthermore, the British Gayton le Marsh wind farm, which had already been completed at the end of 2015, was sold, and the proceeds were used to prematurely repay the loans for Group-owned wind farms, which in turn contributed to the increase in the Group equity ratio to more than 19 percent.

The Power Generation in Group-owned Wind Farms and the Operation Development, Innovation and Others segments each showed a decline in earnings, which is mainly due to external factors such as the comparatively poor wind output during the year and a marked depreciation of the British pound versus the euro. In contrast, the Project Development and Sales (Wind, Solar) segment saw a considerable increase in earnings, which more than compensated for the declines in earnings in the other two segments. All things considered, the revenue and income targets at both Energiekontor AG and the Group were reached or even slightly exceeded. Company growth thus continued as planned in 2016. Furthermore, thanks to the planning permissions totalling about 100 MW obtained by the end of 2016, a solid foundation was laid for the successful continuation of the positive Company performance in the current 2017 financial year.

Peter Szabo, CEO of Energiekontor AG, remarks: “The successful performance of Energiekontor AG in recent years should not obscure the fact that competition has increased considerably and that, even in Germany, subsidies for new projects in the renewable energy sector are now determined in auctioning procedures. We have thoroughly prepared for this scenario in recent years. The fact that Energiekontor has been awarded its third PV project in an auction in February 2017 shows that the Group can draw on the necessary experience to participate successfully in auctioning procedures.”

He continues: “In our second core market, the UK, we even expect subsidies for onshore wind to be abolished altogether. From our point of view, auctions only serve as a transition before renewable energy, especially wind and solar, will compete directly with conventional energy sources. This is already partly the case today. In Scotland for example, Energiekontor is already relying exclusively on direct power purchase agreements or PPAs with major industrial corporations as the end customers to ensure the profitability of its wind farms. This means that projects are measured directly at the market price.”

The Energiekontor Group is pursuing a clear strategy in order to be able to continue its successful growth path in this environment. This includes implementing efficiency measures as well as using optimisation potential in the Project Development and Power Generation in Group-owned Wind Farms segments, while expanding the solar business and tapping into new markets. In the Netherlands, for instance, the establishment of a branch office was followed by the conclusion of the first option agreements for the development of wind farms; in France and the US, the first sites for developing solar projects were identified.

Looking towards the future, Peter Szabo explains: “The entire sector is on the verge of drastic change. We are currently taking the next step towards open competition of all energy supply systems. Given the continuous expansion of renewable energies together with gradual reductions in the levelized cost of electricity, strong growth is expected in general for this sector. As soon as renewable energy prices draw even with the cost of electricity from fossil fuel power plants, the dependence on subsidies will be eliminated. Once that happens, a limit on the volume of new renewable energy installations will become obsolete. This should cause a rapid expansion of the renewable energy market. We intend to again assume a pioneering role in this process by realising the most profitable wind and solar projects in order to be successful in auction procedures and maintain our competitive position. In this context, we will also further expand our own portfolio of wind farms and potentially also solar parks. As we have already seen in the past, the growth path of our Company will not always be linear in the years to come. Our focus is not on short-term profits, however, but on the long-term sustainable growth of the Energiekontor Group.”

The complete annual report for 2016 is available online at http://www.energiekontor.de/Finanzberichte.html.

About Energiekontor AG:

For more than 25 years, Energiekontor has stood for a sound approach to business and a wealth of experience in wind power. Formed in Bremerhaven in 1990, the company was one of the pioneers in the industry and is now one of the leading German project developers. Its core business covers the planning, construction and operational management of wind farms in Germany and abroad, and was expanded to include solar power in 2010. Energiekontor also currently owns and operates 31 wind farms with a total rated power of around 238 megawatts.

In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor also maintains offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Bernau (near Berlin) and Dortmund. The company also has branch offices in England (Leeds), Scotland (Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon) and the Netherlands (Nijmegen). Our track record speaks for itself: 104 wind farms completed, with 576 turbines and total rated power of around 860 megawatts. This corresponds to an investment volume of roughly EUR 1.4 billion.

Energiekontor went public on 25 May 2000. The shares of Energiekontor AG (WKN 531350/ISIN DE0005313506) are listed in the General Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and can be traded on all German stock exchanges.

Contact:
Investor Relations/Press
Dr Stefan Eckhoff
Tel.: (+49-421) 3304-0
E-Mail: irenergiekontor.de

Energiekontor AG
Reuters: EKT
ISIN: DE0005313506