Verbund Raises 2013 EBITDA Guidance

VIENNA--Austrian utility Verbund AG (VER.VI) raised its 2013 guidance for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization upon release of its earnings Tuesday for the first nine months of the year.

MAIN FACTS:

-Verbund now expects EBITDA for financial year 2013 to be approximately 1.25 billion euros ($1.73 billion).

-Verbund's net profit is expected to amount to around EUR600 million.

-Verbund said its forecast is based on a hydro coefficient of 1.03.

-The utility plans on distributing a dividend of EUR1.00 per share for financial year 2013.

-Verbund said its operating business was driven by a good water supply in the first three quarters of 2013.

-The hydro coefficient was 1.04, 4.0% above the long-term average but 3 percentage points below the previous year's figure, Verbund said.

-Overall, Verbund's power generation in the first three quarters was 594 gigawatt hours higher than in the corresponding quarters a year ago.

-However, the overall decline in wholesale electricity prices and the continuing difficult economic climate for gas power plants put a strain on business operations, Verbund said.

-EBITDA improved by EUR158.3 million year-on-year to EUR1.09 billion.

-Successful completion of the asset swap with German utility E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) had a positive effect, while impairment losses resulting from impairment tests--particularly in the area of gas power plants--had a negative effect.

-Taking into account all non-recurring effects plus additional negative results from Sorgenia in Italy, Verbund's net profit increased by EUR177.7 million on the year to EUR510.4 million.

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