ESB Group has published its 2018 financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, (FY 2018) reporting an operating profit before exceptional items of €455 million, profit after exceptional items, interest and tax of €60 million and capital investment of €1.2 billion in long term electricity infrastructure.
Transitions to low-carbon energy future
Despite challenging market conditions, which required ESB to reflect a €140 million exceptional non-cash impairment charge on generation assets, 2018 saw the delivery of satisfactory underlying financial performance as it transitions to a low-carbon energy future.
ESB’s Brighter Future Strategy through to 2030 commits the organisation to leading the transition to reliable, affordable low-carbon energy. This is demonstrated by
:
1.) Investing in low-carbon generation (€250 million in 2018);
2.) Expanding and enhancing of the electricity network to accommodate more distributed energy resources; and
empowering customers to take more control of their energy use through smart energy services for homes and businesses.
Pat Fenlon, ESB’s chief financial officer, said: “In continued challenging market conditions, ESB delivered a satisfactory financial performance in 2018 with profit after exceptional items, interest and tax of €60 million and almost €1.2 billion of energy infrastructure investments.
"ESB continued to focus on delivering long-term value and investing in critical long-term electricity infrastructure for the benefit of our customers, shareholders and the wider Irish economy.
"ESB’s diversified businesses and solid financial position ensure it is well placed to meet the challenges that lie ahead and remain at the forefront of the energy sector in an all-islands market.”
ESB declared a dividend of €35 million in respect of 2018. Total dividends paid to the Irish exchequer over the past 10 years amounted to €1.4 billion.
ESB’s networks businesses (ESB Networks and NIE Networks) continued to focus on customer service and delivering reliable and safe electricity over increasingly smarter networks to 3.1 million homes, farms and businesses in Ireland.
Also in 2018 a number of major storms had a serious impact on the network and customers. The arrival of Storm Ali in particular, at a time when most trees were still in leaf, resulted in significant levels of network damage from falling timber and required an enormous restoration response from ESB Networks and NIE Networks crews to restore power to almost 320,000 homes and businesses and make the network safe again.
Irish economy
ESB invested €900 million in energy infrastructure investments during 2018. The organisation said it contributes €1.7 billion annually to the Irish economy through dividends, investments, taxes and jobs.
ESB provides significant employment directly, with more than 7,800 employees, and indirectly through contractors and service providers.