Result for the quarter: PNE AG has good start to the new year

• Good result in the first three months
• Number of projects in construction and construction preparation at a very high level
• Project pipeline with 19.8 gigawatts continues on record course

Cuxhaven, 8 May, 2024 – PNE AG started the 2024 financial year well. The large number of projects in construction and construction preparation pave the way for a successful full year. The project pipeline once again reached a record level.

In the first three months of 2024, the Group recorded total aggregate output of euro 57.0 million (prior year: euro 45.3 million), revenues of euro 31.4 million (prior year: euro 32.2 million), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of euro 8.5 million (prior year: euro 8.6 million) and undiluted earnings per share of euro -0.06 (prior year: euro -0.08). 

In Germany and France, ten wind farms with a total nominal output of 276 MW (prior year: nine wind farms with 201 MW) were under construction at the end of the first quarter of 2024. A further 73 MW were awarded approval in the tender or are in the tender procedure. Moreover, wind farms and photovoltaic plants with an output of 826 MW/MWp are also under approval in Germany and France alone. 

However, recent months have continued to be marked by late transport permits and capacity bottlenecks at suppliers and network operators. In addition, weather-related construction difficulties with regard to wind conditions and wet soils were encountered. This delayed the construction and commissioning of new wind farms. 

"We are very satisfied with the results of the first three months of this year," says Markus Lesser, CEO of PNE AG. "We are looking forward to a very successful full year with the large number of projects currently under construction, in construction preparation and in the approval process. The pace of project implementation is increasing. These are the best prerequisites for achieving the goal of our “Scale up 2.0 strategy, which consists in having our own wind farms and photovoltaic plants with an output of 1,500 MW/MWp in operation or under construction by the end of 2027.“

Wind and PV project pipeline continues to grow
Overall, the nominal capacity of the pipeline for wind and photovoltaic projects increased noticeably once again from 13,814 megawatts (MW) in the same period last year to 19,805 MW. Onshore wind energy projects accounted for 9,794 MW. The pipeline of offshore wind energy projects now comprises 2,500 MW. There was also major progress in the first quarter of this year in the development of photovoltaic projects. In this area, our pipeline increased from 5,400 MWp to 7,511 MWp. This means that the project pipeline once again reached a record level. In Germany alone, the PNE Group worked on wind farms with a nominal capacity of 2,600 MW (prior year: 2,349 MW).

Expansion of internally operated portfolio
The wind farm portfolio operated by PNE had a capacity of 370 MW at the end of the first quarter (previous year's period: 321 MW). The wind farms of the PNE Group produced 247 GWh of clean electricity in the first three months of this year (in the same period last year: 213 GWh), saving the environment 186,000 tons of CO₂ emissions. Wind supply has been better in the first three months of this year than in the previous year's period.

With their electricity production, the wind farms of the PNE Group make an important contribution to climate protection and independent energy security. Generating electricity in PNE's own wind farms and PV plants is an important pillar of our “Scale up 2.0“ corporate strategy.

Services business continues to grow 
The expansion of the services business contributes to steady earnings and also creates the basis for further business. In the first quarter of 2024, the PNE Group was able to further expand the international business of operations management as well as technical inspections and tests. The order volume managed in operations management grew to over 2,900 MW (prior year period: 2,400 MW). It now consists of more than 1,000 wind turbines from various manufacturers.

Quarterly results and prospects are the basis of a successful year
"We confirm our guidance for the 2024 fiscal year with positive EBITDA for the Group in the range of euro 40 to 50 million", says Markus Lesser. "We are on a very good path towards achieving this goal."