Energy Group, the the electricity and gas utility controlled by New York private equity firm I Squared Capital, has reported a dip in earnings for the first nine months of its financial year.
It comes as I Squared has taken longer than expected to press the start button on a planned sale of the business, which it acquired nine years ago for €1 billion.
It was first reported 13 months ago that I Squared was plotting a third effort to sell Energia since 2018. Reuters put an enterprise value of about €2.75 billion, including net debt, on the group at the time.
Energia’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) fell to €238.3 million for the nine months to the end of December from €246.7 million for the same period in the previous fiscal year, it said on Thursday.
The three parts of Energia’s business — renewable energy, a flexible electricity generation business, and a unit supplying customers — have proven to be complementary in recent years despite upheaval across energy markets.
Ebitda in its renewables business, which owns 358 megawatts (MW) of wind assets and purchases electricity from 1.19 gigawatts (GW) of third-party green energy producers, and customer solutions unit, which supplies 866,700 homes and businesses on the island of Ireland, declined over the nine months amid lower energy prices.
However, earnings in its flexible generation unit, mainly made up of two combined cycle gas turbine plants in Huntstown in north county Dublin with a total capacity of 747MW, advanced. This was fuelled by greater use of the plants — used to plug gaps in electricity supplies in the Greater Dublin Area — during the period as well as the opening earlier this year of an emergency 50MW gas-fired electricity plant on the Huntstown site.
The company is also progressing the development of a data centre at Huntstown and has a solar energy pipeline of more than 1,200MW.
“Our integrated business model continues to deliver a strong set of financial results and provides a platform for significant growth,” said chief executive Ian Thom.
“Energia is well positioned for further growth as we work to meet the increasing demand for renewable energy on the island of Ireland. Our leading market position and extensive project pipeline put us at the forefront of Ireland’s energy transition, developing the infrastructure necessary to meet climate goals while ensuring secure and reliable energy, and supporting our customers on this journey.”
