- Essential goals achieved

- 14 projects under construction

- Project pipeline continues to grow

- Forecast for 2021 financial year confirmed despite weak wind in the first half-year

Energiekontor can look back on a successful first half of 2021 overall. Key targets were achieved or exceeded. Only an extraordinarily weak wind half-year prevented even better Group figures.

All projects relevant for the 2021 annual result are already under construction and are scheduled to go into operation in the second half of the year. A total of 12 wind power projects with a capacity of 144 MW and two solar projects with a capacity of 17 MW are currently under construction. By the end of the year, financial close is still expected for approx. 180 MW of solar projects and approx. 100 MW of wind projects, which should lay the foundation for further growth and a very successful 2022 financial year.

With the strategic decision to take over the Hanstedt-Wriedel wind farm, which went into operation at the end of June 2021 with a generation capacity of 31.8 MW, into the own portfolio and to refrain from selling it, the own portfolio was considerably expanded, and the hidden reserves further increased. Through the scheduled commissioning of further wind and solar parks and their inclusion in the own park portfolio in the second half of the year, the electricity generation capacities will be significantly expanded further by the end of the year.

Very important milestones were reached with the sales of two Scottish wind farm projects. On the one hand, these transactions have a major impact on the half-year result, as well as on the overall result for the 2021 financial year. On the other hand, this means that the first fruits of the many years of investment in this location are being harvested. In recent years, great efforts have been made in Scotland to build up an extensive project pipeline. Until now, insufficient grid development in the region delayed the timely realisation of projects with construction permits. Due to the modified transaction structure in the current projects, it is possible to collect significant contributions to earnings even before the sold parks are commissioned.

Overall, there was a lot of significant progress in the project pipeline: Numerous approvals for projects have been granted and financing concluded. In Germany, Energiekontor successfully participated in the tenders of the Federal Network Agency. The acquisition of suitable sites for wind and solar projects continued and a number of project sales were reported in Germany and the UK. The project pipeline (excluding the USA) has now grown to around 6,760 MW.

The results of the segments "Power generation in the Group's own wind and solar parks" and "Operational development, innovation and other" are below the previous year's level in the first half of the year. The reasons for this are the unusually weak wind supply not only in Germany but also in foreign markets. In addition, the 20-year remuneration under the EEG expired at the end of 2020 for generation capacities of 55 MW wind onshore, which are now remunerated via PPAs. At the time these PPAs were concluded, prices were significantly lower than today. Short-term 12-month PPAs were concluded at the time in order to retain the option of concluding PPAs for 2022 at significantly better conditions, which has been successfully implemented in the meantime. In addition, above-average repair costs burdened the segment result in the first half of the year. A significantly better result is expected in the second half of the year, in which the own park portfolio is to be increased by further parks as planned in order to further increase the generation capacities.

This means that in the first half of 2021, key Group figures have only partially deteriorated at first glance compared to the same period in 2020, as the vast majority of the projects relevant for the 2021 annual result will not be completed and commissioned until the second half of 2021, as planned. This was different in the previous year, as a larger wind farm with a significant contribution to earnings was commissioned shortly after the turn of the year and had a significant impact on the result for the first half of 2020.

Energiekontor closed the first half of 2021 at Group level with sales of € 40.2 million (previous year € 65.0 million) and total operating performance of € 111.8 million (previous year € 80.9 million). Group EBIT with € 16.5 million (previous year € 21.8 million) and the result from ordinary activities (EBT) with € 8.0 million (previous year € 15.0 million) were below the previous year's level.

"Overall, we are very satisfied with the business development to date, as the operational business development has proceeded according to plan and as expected. After this convincing first half-year with the sales of several wind and solar projects in Germany and Scotland, we have initiated a number of further sales processes and therefore expect to be able to close further transactions with an impact on earnings by the end of the year," says CEO Peter Szabo happily. "In addition, we will generate further revenue from the projects sold in Scotland both in the second half of the year and in 2022. Therefore, as forecast at the beginning of the year, we still expect Group EBT in 2021 to be significantly above the previous year's level, despite the significant expansion of the owned portfolio planned at the same time. "

The highlights in the first half of 2021

- PPAs concluded for around 120 MW of existing wind farms, of which approx. 55 MW in the company's own portfolio

- PPA for a 52.3 MW solar park concluded with EnBW; start of construction autumn 2021; commissioning Q2 / 2022

- Sale of two Scottish wind farm projects (WP Longhill & WP Sorbie) with a total of 63 MW

- Sale of the Theilenhofen solar park (9.2 MW); commissioning in the 4th quarter of 2021

- Sale of two wind turbines (8.1 MW) in NRW and NDS

- Commissioning and takeover of the Hanstedt-Wriedel wind farm (31.8 MW) into the company's own portfolio

- Successful participation in the BNetzA tenders Wind Onshore in February and May 2021 with a total of 6 wind turbines and in March with a solar park

- As of 30 June 2021, 14 projects were under construction (144 MW wind / 17 MW solar).

- Expansion of the project pipeline (excluding the USA) to around 6,760 MW.

In the second half of the year, four large solar projects are to go into construction as announced. These solar projects, which are to be realised on the basis of PPAs, have a total volume of over 180 MW and will be commissioned in 2022. In addition, further financial closes of wind projects with approx. 100 MW are expected by the end of the year.

Overall, the Management Board continues to expect earnings growth of at least 10-20 % for 2021 compared to the previous year. From today's perspective, similar growth rates are also expected for the following years.

The complete 2021 half-year report is available on the Energiekontor AG website at: https://www.energiekontor.de/investor-relations/finanzberichte.html.

About Energiekontor AG:

A solid business policy and a lot of experience in renewable energies: This is what Energiekontor has stood for for over 30 years. Founded in Bremerhaven in 1990, the company is one of the pioneers in the industry and is now one of Germany's leading project developers. Its core business ranges from the planning and construction to the operational management of wind farms in Germany and abroad and was expanded in 2010 to include solar energy. In addition, Energiekontor operates wind and solar farms with a nominal output of over 310 megawatts in its own portfolio. Energiekontor AG also aims to play a pioneering role in economic terms and to realise the first wind and solar parks in all target markets at market prices as quickly as possible, independently of state subsidies.

In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor has offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Augsburg, Bernau bei Berlin and Potsdam. The company also has offices in England (Leeds), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon), the USA (Houston/Texas and Rapid City/South Dakota) and France (Toulouse, Rouen).

The proud balance sheet since the company was founded: 128 realised wind farms and 12 solar parks with a total output of well over 1 gigawatt. This corresponds to an investment volume of approx. 1.8 billion euros.

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

Contact:

Investor Relations / Press
Peter Alex
Tel.: +49 421 3304-126
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.energiekontor.de