GDANSK (Reuters) -Poland’s biggest energy utility PGE reported a second-quarter net loss of 9.61 billion zlotys ($2.65 billion) on Tuesday, in line with the company’s estimates as impairments on its tangible assets took a toll.WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
PGE is the biggest state-controlled Polish utility, with market capitalisation of 24.83 billion zlotys.
The substantial loss, driven by write-downs on its conventional assets, highlights the financial cost of Poland’s energy transition and underscores the urgency behind the company’s strategic pivot away from fossil fuels and toward its new investment plan.
CONTEXT
PGE, like other Polish utilities, is navigating structural shifts in the country’s energy landscape as it transitions away from coal. In June, it unveiled a new strategy to invest 235 billion zlotys by 2035 in renewable, gas-fired power plants, and energy storage. The company had previously announced it expected a net hit of around 11.6 billion zlotys in the first-half from impairments on its tangible assets, mainly related to its conventional energy segment.BY THE NUMBERS The company’s reccuring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the first half of the year was 7.60 billion zlotys. Sales revenue for the quarter stood at 13.80 billion zlotys.
($1 = 3.6291 zlotys)
(Reporting by Julia Kotowska and Marta Maciag; editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
