Wind power company EDPR's profit drops 56% due to reduced gains from asset sales

By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON (Reuters) -Wind energy producer EDP Renovaveis' first-half profit fell by 56% compared with a year ago, despite an increase in power production, as it sold fewer assets, it said on Wednesday.

EDPR, the world's fourth biggest producer of wind energy, said it booked only 12 million euros ($13.87 million) in capital gains from the sale of wind and solar parks - part of a strategy of disposing of stakes in mature plants to finance new ones - in the first half, compared to 171 million euros a year ago.

It has said it expects to book more capital gains in the second half and its share price rose by around 1% at the market open.

Net profit at EDPR, which is the renewables arm of Portugal's main utility EDP's, said net profit dropped to 93 million euros, below the 118 million euro average analysts polled by LSEG forecast.

Excluding the reduced gains from asset sales, EDPR said recurring net profit rose by 80 million euros, reflecting a "significant improvement in the profitability of the operating asset portfolio, driven by increased electricity production levels and improved operational efficiency".

Revenues grew 18% to 1.4 billion euros, supported by a 12% increase in power production to 21.2 terawatt-hours, with North America representing 60% of total generation output and Europe 27%, it said.

Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell year-on-year by 1% to 948 million euros, in line with forecasts.

Excluding capital gains, recurring EBITDA grew 20%.

EDPR, which operates in 28 countries across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, said that in June its installed capacity was 19.6 gigawatts, up 3 GW from a year ago.

The United States represented around 44% of its total installed capacity, placing the North American region at over 50%, while Europe accounted for 35%.

EDPR said it has 2.3 GW of capacity under construction "that are on track and within budget, supporting the expected capacity additions of around 2 GW in 2025".

($1 = 0.8660 euros)

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by David Latona and Barbara Lewis)