RWE posts Q1 profit decline on weak trading, poor winds

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's largest utility RWE on Thursday said first-quarter core earnings (adjusted EBITDA) fell by nearly a quarter, hurt by a weak commodity trading business as well as poor wind conditions that weighed on the group's offshore business.

First-quarter adjusted EBITDA came in at 1.307 billion euros ($1.46 billion), RWE said, also below the average forecast of 1.321 billion euros in a poll provided by the company.

RWE, which has come under pressure from activist investors to do more share buybacks, still confirmed its 2025 outlook, expecting adjusted EBITDA between 4.55 billion and 5.15 billion euros and a dividend of 1.20 euros per share.

The group earlier this year set more ambitious return targets for new energy projects in light of regulatory hurdles and supply chain risks, also cutting its investment programme by more than a fifth.

It said on Thursday that if these targets, defined as an average rate of return of more than 8.5%, were not met it could adjust its capital allocation and reinvest the savings in additional share buybacks.

RWE is currently buying back up to 1.5 billion euros of its shares in a programme that runs until the second quarter of 2026.

($1 = 0.8933 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, editing by Rachel More, Kirsti Knolle)