Lisbon, July 31, 2025 (Lusa) - Portuguese electricity operator, EDP's net profits fell 7% year-on-year in the first half of this year to €709 million, the company said on Thursday in a statement to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

According to EDP, recurring net income reached €752 million in the first six months of this year, excluding the contribution of asset turnover gains (which were nil in this half compared to €184 million in the same period of 2024), underlying net income increased by 27%.

This increase, it explains, was "driven by the 3.1 (GW) [Gigawatts] increase in renewable capacity, a 12% increase in total electricity production with a strong contribution from operations in the US (90% renewable) and a solid performance of the electricity networks in Portugal, Spain and Brazil".

The group's recurring EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) fell 3% to €2.598 billion.

Excluding gains from asset rotation, EBITDA increased 7% year-on-year to €2.590 billion, “also reflecting the reduction in operating costs (-3% year-on-year) resulting from efficiency improvements”.

Net debt stood at €17.2 billion in the first half, reflecting the payment in May of the annual dividend for 2024 of €0.20 per share and the investment made in the period, with EDP noting that “the completion of asset rotation transactions is mainly concentrated in the second half of the year”.

Following this performance in the first half and expectations for the rest of the year, EDP has updated its forecasts for 2025 and now points to recurring EBITDA in the range of €4.8 billion to €4.9 billion, recurring net income in the region of €1.2 billion to €1.3 billion and net debt of around €16 billion.

In the electricity networks business, recurring EBITDA excluding gains from asset turnover remained in the first half “in line with the same period last year, increasing 6% excluding currency devaluation, reflecting the increase in electricity distributed in Brazil and the Iberian Peninsula”.

In this segment, EDP argues that ‘it is essential to revise upwards returns in the current regulatory review processes in Portugal and Spain, to levels in line with the European average’, considering this to be “a crucial improvement given the scale of investment needed for the energy transition and to reinforce the robustness of the electricity systems in the Iberian Peninsula”.

In the integrated energy production and marketing activity in the Iberian Peninsula and Brazil, recurring EBITDA totalled €858 million, 3% less than in the same period last year.

According to EDP, "despite the high water resources" recorded in the first half of this year (41% above the historical average in Portugal compared to 33% in the first half of 2024), hydro production in the Iberian Peninsula fell 6%, due to the partial use of these resources to recover reservoir levels, which reached 87% at the end of June.

In the first six months of this year, the company reported an increase in demand for flexible generation in the Iberian market, with pumped storage production growing 13% year-on-year, with an increase in combined cycle (CCGT) production, “in response to growing demand for complementary services”, and higher gas supply costs.

In wind and solar production, recurring EBITDA remained “stable” at €960 million in June, supported by an 18% year-on-year increase in installed capacity, which led to 12% higher renewable production compared to the first half of 2024, mitigated by a 9% drop in the average energy sales price to €54.9/MWh (Megawatt/hour).

Excluding gains from asset rotation (€171 million in the first half of 2024 compared to €12 million in the first six months of this year), recurring EBITDA from wind and solar generation increased by 20%.

In the first half of the year, EDP also reported a 2% increase in net financial costs to €470 million, “reflecting the increase in the average cost of debt by 23 bps [basis points] to 4.8%, driven by the rise in Brazilian Real index rates and the increase in the average amount of debt compared to the previous year”.

PD/AYLS // AYLS

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