Interim financial report for the first half-year 2012 - unfavourable price trend

DONG Energy A/S  / Miscellaneous

10.08.2012 14:00

Dissemination of a UK Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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The Board of Directors of DONG Energy has today approved the interim financial
report for the first half of 2012 with the following outlook and financial
highlights compared with the first half of 2011: 

  -- First-half 2012 EBITDA was DKK 6.6 billion compared with DKK 9.1 billion in
     the first half of 2011 and was affected by negative effects from the
     increased spread between oil and gas prices, the discontinuation of
     non-recurring income in 2011 from the renegotiation of gas contracts, low
     electricity prices and lower output from power stations as well as costs
     for the repair work to the Siri platform. By contrast, earnings from wind
     activities showed an increase and, in Exploration & Production, both
     production and prices were higher
  -- Profit after tax was DKK 0.8 billion, down DKK 2.0 billion on the first
     half of 2011. The sustained very low green spark spreads in Europe
     necessitated the recognition of a DKK 2.0 billion impairment loss on the
     gas-fired power stations. Profit for the period included a DKK 2.0 billion
     gain after tax on disposal of enterprises
  -- Operating cash inflow decreased to DKK 2.6 billion from DKK 6.3 billion in
     the first half of 2011. This primarily reflected more funds tied up in
     working capital and the lower EBITDA
  -- First-half 2012 net investments were DKK 6.5 billion versus DKK 6.7 billion
     in the same period the previous year. Gross investments were DKK 9.3
     billion and primarily related to the development of wind activities and gas
     and oil fields, while divestments primarily related to Oil Terminals
  -- Interest-bearing net debt rose by DKK 6.2 billion from the end of 2011 to
     DKK 29.9 billion



Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen, Acting CEO:
'The results we delivered for the first half were not good. Our earnings
(EBITDA) matched expectations, but our net profit was affected by, in
particular, the fact that we had to write down the value of our gas-fired power
stations. This was due to the low coal and CO2 prices, which make gas-fired
power stations less profitable than coal-fired power stations. The unfavourable
gas price also means that we no longer expect to achieve the same EBITDA in
2012 as in 2011. However, it does not alter our outlook concerning
significantly improved earnings in 2013 compared with 2011 as a result of our
investments in offshore wind and oil and gas activities. We also reaffirm our
ambitious target to double our EBITDA in 2015 compared with 2009.' 



Outlook

  -- The assumptions for the EBITDA outlook for Energy Markets in 2012 have
     deteriorated since the beginning of the year due to a series of factors all
     of which depress EBITDA. Actual green spark spreads have been very low.
     Infrastructure costs for handling gas have increased. Earnings from using
     storage capacity in connection with seasonal fluctuations between winter
     and summer prices have been lower than expected. The widened oil/gas spread
     has also had a negative effect.
     Based on the above, business performance EBITDA in 2012 is expected to be
     around 10% lower than in 2011. This is a downwards adjustment compared with
     the outlook in the 2011 annual report, when EBITDA in 2012 was expected to
     be in line with 2011.
  -- EBITDA in 2013 is still expected to be significantly ahead of both 2011 and
     2012 due to new assets in operation and the full-year effect of new assets
     in operation in 2012. This is in accordance with the outlook in the annual
     report for 2011.
  -- The changed EBITDA outlook for 2012 does not alter the target to double
     EBITDA in the period up to 2015 compared with 2009, when EBITDA was DKK 8.8
     billion.
  -- As a consequence of the lower EBITDA outlook and the level of net
     investments, the key ratio adjusted net debt/EBITDA is expected to exceed
     2.5 at the end of 2012. The key ratio stood at 2.8 at 30 June 2012. In
     2013, it is expected that adjusted net debt/EBITDA will again be less than
     2.5.


In connection with the presentation of the interim financial report a
conference call for investors and analysts will be held on 10 August 2012 at
3.00pm CET: 

Denmark: +45 3271 4767
International: +44 207 509 5139


The conference call can be followed live at the following address:
http://www.dongenergy.com/en/investor/presentations/pages/webcasts.aspx 



Presentation slides will be available prior to the conference call at the
following address: 
http://www.dongenergy.com/en/investor/presentations/pages/financial_presentation
s.aspx 



The interim financial report can be downloaded at:
http://www.dongenergy.com/en/investor/reports/pages/interimreports.aspx



For further information, please contact:

Media Relations
Helene Aagaard
+45 9955 9330

Investor Relations
Morten Hultberg Buchgreitz
+45 9955 9750



DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe. We are
headquartered in Denmark. Our business is based on procuring, producing,
distributing and trading in energy and related products in Northern Europe. We
have approximately 6,400 employees and generated DKK 57 billion (EUR 7.6
billion) in revenue in 2011. For further information, see www.dongenergy.com

Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the
associated documents

https://newsclient.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=4
00337

News Source: NASDAQ OMX



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Language:           English
Company:            DONG Energy A/S
                    
                     
                    Dänemark
Phone:              
Fax:                
E-mail:             
Internet:           
ISIN:               XS0253170335
Category Code:      MSC
LSE Ticker:         65XG
Sequence Number:    1160
Time of Receipt:    Aug 10, 2012 14:00:08
 
End of Announcement                             DGAP News-Service
 
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