MADRID, 27 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Enagás obtained a net profit of 215 million euros in the first half of the year, including capital gains from the sale of its stake in GNL Quintero in Chile and from the entry into the shareholding of Enagás Renovable from the Clean H2 Infra Fund and the ‘ impairment’ of Tallgrass in the United States, which represents an increase of 1.1% compared to the same period last year, the company reported.
In this way, Enagás indicated that it is in line to reach the annual profit target for 2022, located in a range of between 380 and 390 million euros.
Without counting these recurring effects of the capital gains -which amount to more than 185 million euros- and the ‘impairment’ by Tallgrass -of almost 134 million euros-, the profits of the gas network operator as of June had risen to 164 million of euros.
In addition, the group continues with the closing process of the Morelos gas pipeline transaction in Mexico, which is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
At the end of June, Enagás had a solid financial structure, with more than 80% of the debt at a fixed rate and an average life of 4.6 years. In addition, the company has reduced the cost of debt to 1.6% and has a liquidity position of 2,956 million euros at the end of the first half.
Likewise, the company highlighted that the cash flows generated present “sufficient slack” to ensure its dividend policy commitment, which in 2022 is 1.72 euros per share, 1% more than in 2021.
On the other hand, Enagás indicated that all of its infrastructures have had a level of availability of 100% during this first semester.
As of today, the filling of underground storage is at 76.5%, already well above the obligation set by the European Commission for August 1 (71%).
During the first half of the year, 173 LNG ships were unloaded in Spain, from 14 different origins, compared to 111 in the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, the total national demand for natural gas in Spain and exports through interconnections in the first half, reached 214.2 terawatt hours (TWh), 10.1% more than in the same period of the year 2021.
The demand for electricity generation increased by 73.4%, registering three consecutive records and reaching 803.8 gigawatt hours (GWh) on July 14. With regard to conventional demand, it fell by 10.3% due to a drop in industrial demand.
Regarding Spain’s contribution to the security of supply in Europe, in the first six months of the year, 20.6 TWh were exported through interconnections with France, equivalent to more than 20 methane tankers. Ship recharging also increased by 71.2%, reaching 8,161 GWh.
During the first half of the year, the group’s investee companies also contributed to the security of supply, with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) with 97% utilization and 100% availability, which has allowed it to deliver up to 30 June 5.1 bcm of natural gas to Italy and Greece.
In addition, a strategic collaboration agreement on energy was signed between the European Union and Azerbaijan, which lays the foundations for the possible expansion of TAP’s capacity from the current 10 bcm to 20 bcm, a key infrastructure for the security of energy supply. Europe that runs through Greece, Albania and Italy and in which Enagás has a 16% stake.
TAP continues to work on defining the different expansion scenarios to increase this capacity. The binding phase of this extension is scheduled for November 2022, with a second window in July 2023.
Likewise, in Greece, the Revithoussa LNG terminal -of the Enagás subsidiary Desfa- covered 44.5% of the country’s total imports, receiving 39 unloadings from six different countries.
In the United States, Spain’s main supplier of LNG, the infrastructures of the investee Tallgrass registered a high level of contracting and use during the first half of the year.
