BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.10
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Axpo saw a fall in net financial liabilities for the 2020/21 financial year (1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021), Trend reports with reference to the company.
The sharp rise in energy prices, chiefly towards the end of the reporting year, resulted in a marked expansion of the balance sheet.
The Group had total assets of CHF 44.7 billion as at 30 September 2021 (previous year: CHF 21.7 billion). The rise in energy prices led to a more than sixfold increase in both the positive and negative replacement values of derivative financial instruments. The expansion of the balance sheet was in part attributable to Axpo’s hedging strategy, which involves selling electricity from its own power plants up to three years in advance and hedging the price.
As at 30 September 2021, production hedged for three years stood at around 70 TWh. In the reporting period, equity grew by CHF 493 million to CHF 7,228 million, while liquidity increased from CHF 3.8 billion to CHF 4.3 billion. At the same time, financial liabilities of CHF 5.0 billion were reduced to CHF 4.5 billion. This resulted in a fall in net financial liabilities to CHF 223 million as at 30 September 2021 (previous year: CHF 1,181 million).
Axpo forecasts a high operating result for the 2021/22 financial year. Axpo will benefit from an increase in hedged electricity prices in the coming year and is also expecting a positive effect from the shifts in income. On the other hand, maintenance of the Leibstadt nuclear power plant, which is taking longer than planned, will have a negative impact on the result. Fluctuations in the value of STENFO and the securities portfolio will also continue to affect the result going forward.
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