It is the last of the three major French energy companies to publish its accounts. After the historic profits of TotalEnergies and the record losses EDF, Engie unveiled, Tuesday, February 21, results greatly boosted by soaring gas and electricity prices.
Its turnover jumped 62% to 93.9 billion euros, a level never before recorded, for an operating profit of 9 billion euros, up 47%. Net current income (adjusted for exceptional items) reached 5.2 billion euros (+ 78.4%), far from the amounts recorded after the merger between GDF and Suez in 2008.
Provisions and impairment of assets
There is still a shadow on the board. Net profit is only 200 million euros, due to provisions and asset write-downs. Engie had to devalue certain contracts, representing an accounting loss of (3.7 billion euros). He also passed new disputed provisions on Belgian nuclear power (2.8 billion euros), and for which he is in discussion with the government. Finally, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was never put into service with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, caused it to lose a billion euros.
For the company run by Catherine MacGregor, these accounting entries represent, in a way, the balance of any account of activities that he has decided to abandon, such as the civil atom in Belgium. It is also useless to display too many benefits, which are rather frowned upon in the current context.
Dividend increase
The group does not fail to recall that it paid 900 million euros “under the exceptional profits tax” decided by the European Union and “contributed €1.1 billion through profit-sharing mechanisms” in Belgium and France. As for the tariff shield, put in place by the government, it cost him a billion.
Engie also points out that it has “redistributed” nearly 600 million euros to its employees worldwide, in bonuses or profit-sharing, under the “value sharing”.
As in all companies where the State is a shareholder (up to 24% at Engie), the dividend policy is generous. It increases by 65% for 2022, to €1.4 per share. And the group recalls that it has set a distribution rate of 65% to 75% of net income. “ It is one of the highest in the CAC 40 “, deplores Yohann Thiebaux, CGT coordinator at Engie, referring to “ a group that seems to be collapsing in on itself “, after multiple transfers.
France, a new gas hub
Engie is doing fairly well. It reviewed its supply portfolio in record time, which included some 20% Russian gas, and its infrastructure is in extremely high demand. Its LNG terminals, which receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes, operated almost at full capacity throughout the year. The volumes passing through France on the GRTgaz network doubled and its storage sites were filled to the brim in the fall.
In the years to come, the group also intends to increase its gas sales from France. “We have played a crucial role in security of supply in France and Europe, by diversifying our gas contracts to cut our exposure to Russia, and by relying heavily on our regasification, transport and storage infrastructures”, argues Catherine MacGregor. The leaders of Engie must nevertheless regret the sale of the fleet of LNG carriers to TotalEnergies in 2017.
Focus on renewables
It is gas sales that still contribute the most to operational performance (an additional 2 billion euros earned last year), but the group prefers to insist on its shift to renewables, marked by a strong acceleration.
With 37.9 GW of renewables, including 4 GW commissioned in 2022, Engie is now the fourth player in wind and solar power in Europe and the first in France. With an investment envelope of 22 to 25 billion euros earmarked for energy transition by 2025, it is counting on an annual growth of 4 GW in its renewable capacities over the next three years. In 2030, Engie plans a green energy park of 80 GW.