The adjusted net profit obtained by Cepsa in the first half of 2023 was 145 million euros, which represents a 69% reduction compared to the 463 million recorded in the same period of the previous year. This decrease, as explained by the company, is caused by the Government’s extraordinary energy tax, a “poorly designed” tax and the reduction in crude oil prices, as reported by the company and collected by Europa Press.
The tax with 1.2% sales activities of energy companies and has added revenues worth more than 1,000 million euros per year. For Cepsa in particular, this tribute has meant a total import of more than 320 million euros.
Cepsa has positioned itself as the second company in the sector that contributes the most for this tax, and has already announced its intention to appeal the tax. In total, the company contributed 2,185 million euros to Spain in the first half of 2023, of which 1,265 were supported by the company compared to the 920 million collected on behalf of the Treasury.
Decrease the gross result
“Our first semester has been affected by a poorly designed extraordinary tax that has a significant impact on our results and cash generation, in a context in which Cepsa is carrying out a profound transformation, going from being a traditional oil company oy gas to a company at the forefront of the European energy transition,” said the group’s CEO, Maarten Wetselaar.
The group’s adjusted gross operating result (Ebitda) stood at 742 million euros in the first half, compared to 1,742 million euros in the same period last year, due to lower volumes in the Exploration and Production business after the sale of the assets in Abu Dhabi and this decrease in the prices of crude oil, with an average of 78.4 dollars per barrel, compared to 81.3 dollars in the first three months of this year, and of natural gas, with an average of 35.1 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) -compared to 54.1 euros/MWh in the period from January to March.
For its part, the refining margins of the energy company remained at good levels, although lower than those of the first half of a year ago, falling to 7.6 dollars per barrel in the second, compared to 11.0 dollars in the first quarter of this year. exercise. In this way, the group closed the semester with net losses of 393 million euros, compared to profits of 841 million euros a year ago.
Cepsa highlighted that its three business areas -Energy, Chemicals and Exploration and Production- demonstrated resilience in the second year of the year due to a difficult market environment, with lower crude prices and declining refining margins, although still in a good range.
The Energy area posted an adjusted Ebitda in the period of 114 million euros, with the performance of the Energy Parks business slightly lower than the previous quarter, due to lower margins, while the results of Chemicals were in line with the first quarter of 2023, with an adjusted Ebitda of 60 million euros.
Meanwhile, Exploration and Production, after the change of perimeter after the sale of the Abu Dhabi assets, was impacted on its results and operations, its adjusted Ebitda falling to 58 million euros in the period. Thus, Cepsa’s operating cash flow, excluding non-recurring items, stood at 580 million euros, compared to 434 million in the first half of last year.
Reduce its net debt 2,500 million
For its part, net debt was reduced to 2,500 million euros, with a leverage ratio that increased to 1.4 times, due to lower Ebitda after the sale of the Abu Dhabi assets. Liquidity remains solid at 4.1 billion euros, covering 4.3 years of debt maturities. Meanwhile, sustainable investments represented 39% of a total of 276 million euros in the first half of the year, compared to 218 million in the first half of 2022, supporting the progress of the ‘Cepsa Positive Motion’ strategy.
In this regard, the multi-energy company has made progress in its strategy in the period, announcing the construction of the largest green ammonia plant in Europe, with a total investment of 1,000 million euros, and sealing new alliances with Yara Clean Ammonia and Gasunie to connect the southern and northern Europe with green hydrogen.
“We have advanced our ‘Positive Motion’ strategy, strengthening our position in Europe’s main energy markets and forging new alliances to lay the foundations of our company’s leadership in the clean energy and sustainable mobility sectors,” added Wetselaar.
