Portugal's EDP reports 21% profit rise as Iberia rainfall boosts hydro
LISBON, May 9 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest utility EDP (EDP.LS), opens new tab reported a stronger-than-expected 21% increase in first-quarter net profit on Friday, after heavy rainfall boosted hydroelectric output in Iberia, where power prices almost doubled.
Net profit rose to 428 million euros, beating the average forecast of 368 million euros in an LSEG poll of analysts, even though it did not make a capital gain in the quarter. A year ago it had booked 108 million euros worth of capital gains.
Subsidiary EDP Renovaveis (EDPR.LS), opens new tab, the world's fourth-largest wind energy producer, on Thursday reported a 24% fall in net profit to 52 million euros.
EDP said in a statement that total electricity generation increased 5% to 18,300 gigawatt-hours (GWh), sustained by "significant rainfall" during the first three months of the year in Iberia, which filled reservoir volumes to 88% of their capacity.
In the Iberian market, first-quarter average electricity spot prices almost doubled year-on-year to 85 euros per megawatt per hour, it said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 6% to 1.42 billion euros, compared to 1.38 billion euros expected by analysts.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Lone Star agrees to sell Portugal's Novo Banco to French BPCE for $7.39 billion
LISBON, June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity fund Lone Star has agreed to sell its 75% stake in Novo Banco to French banking group BPCE in a deal that evaluates Portugal's fourth-largest lender at 6.4 billion euros ($7.39 billion), BPCE said on Friday. The French bank's statement confirmed a report by Portuguese economic news outlet ECO on Thursday though the price tag is slightly lower than the around 7 billion euros valuation mentioned by ECO. The deal should be completed during the first half of 2026, BPCE said. ($1 = 0.8660 euros)
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Reuters
Meta signs deal for advanced geothermal power in New Mexico
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab signed an agreement with XGS Energy to help develop 150 megawatts of advanced geothermal electricity in New Mexico to power the Facebook parent company's artificial intelligence expansion, the companies said on Thursday. Giant technology companies like Meta are striking unprecedented power deals to secure massive amounts of electricity for the data centers needed to develop AI, which is a top driver of the record U.S. power consumption projected for 2025 and 2026. Geothermal energy, which does not produce climate-warming carbon emissions, has become a popular source of electricity for Big Tech companies, many of which have emissions reduction goals. Unlike conventional geothermal power production, advanced geothermal does not rely on natural water sources. Last year, Google announced plans to fuel its data centers with advanced geothermal power produced by Fervo Energy. While 150 megawatts is a tiny fraction of the many gigawatts of power sought by technology companies to power AI, it would represent about 4% of total U.S. geothermal production. New Mexico, which lays claim to a section of the world's largest shale oil basin, has 160,000 megawatts of untapped geothermal power generation potential. The phased-in project between XGS and Meta is projected to be operational by the end of the decade. The advanced geothermal electricity will be deployed to the electric grid and support Meta's operations in the state. 'With next-generation geothermal technologies like XGS ready for scale, geothermal can be a major player in supporting the advancement of technologies like AI as well as domestic data center development," Urvi Parekh, Global Head of Energy at Meta said in a written statement. "We're excited to partner with XGS to unlock a new category of energy supply for our operations in New Mexico,' he said.
Reuters
13 hours ago
- Reuters
Russian cryptocurrency firm founder avoids further US prison time for fraud
BOSTON, June 12 (Reuters) - A Russian-born founder of a cryptocurrency financial services firm avoided having to spend any further time in a U.S. prison on Thursday for participating in a wide-ranging scheme to manipulate the market for digital tokens on behalf of his company's clients. Federal prosecutors in Boston had argued that Aleksei Andriunin, the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency "market maker" Gotbit, deserved a 15-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in March to charges that he conspired to commit market manipulation and engaged in wire fraud. Instead, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley sentenced him to just eight months in prison, which he was deemed to have already served based on the time he spent in jail following his arrest in October in Portugal, prosecutors said. Portugal extradited him in February. He now faces deportation. His company Gotbit was meanwhile ordered to forfeit $23 million worth of cryptocurrency as part of a separate plea deal. "We're incredibly gratified by the sentence, and he's looking forward to getting home to his wife and family," Roger Burlingame, his lawyer at Dechert, said. Andriunin and Gotbit were among 15 people and three firms charged last year following a novel investigation dubbed "Operation Token Mirrors," in which the FBI for the first time directed the creation of its own digital token to help catch fraudsters in the crypto market. Before the charges were filed, Gotbit was a premier "market maker" in the cryptocurrency industry, making tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue and employing over 200 people, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that from 2018 to 2024, Gotbit engaged in "wash trading," a form of sham trading, and market manipulation on behalf of several cryptocurrency clients to help artificially inflate trading volume for their tokens. Prosecutors cited a 2019 interview published online in which Andriunin described developing a code to wash trade cryptocurrencies to artificially inflate trading volume so they could become listed on larger cryptocurrency exchanges.
