08.06.2016
E.ON SE DE000ENAG999
DGAP-News: E.ON SE: E.ON reorganization nears finish line
DGAP-News: E.ON SE / Key word(s): AGM/EGM
E.ON SE: E.ON reorganization nears finish line
08.06.2016 / 10:00
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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E.ON reorganization nears finish line
- Annual Shareholders Meeting votes on Uniper spinoff
- Two companies for two energy worlds
- Focus on customers
"We intend to undertake the largest transaction of Europe's recent
industrial history. It would create nothing less than a new E.ON, a company
fully dedicated to the energy future. And at the same time we're setting
Uniper on a good course of its own." These are the words E.ON CEO Johannes
Teyssen used at the company's Annual Shareholders Meeting today in Essen to
describe the idea behind E.ON's reorganization.
Goal: approval by at least 75 percent of shareholders
Teyssen asked shareholders to approve the spinoff of Uniper, which operates
the Group's conventional energy business, as an independent company. This
requires a majority of at least 75 percent of the share capital represented
at the time of the vote, which will take place later today after a
comprehensive discussion. If the necessary majority is reached, E.ON
intends to spin off a 53.35-percent stake in Uniper to its shareholders.
More options for shareholders
The spinoff of Uniper will give shareholders additional options: when it
takes effect, each E.ON shareholder will remain a co-owner of E.ON but will
also receive one Uniper share for each ten E.ON shares. Shareholders can
then decide whether they wish to retain their E.ON and Uniper shares or
modify their portfolio. With greater flexibility to manage their assets,
they can opt to place their faith in the future performance of E.ON,
Uniper, or both companies. E.ON and Uniper will also gain greater room for
maneuver: they can focus entirely on their respective very different
markets.
Two companies for two energy worlds
The new E.ON focuses on the new energy world and has three core businesses:
energy networks, customer solutions, and renewables. These three businesses
create an optimal opportunity-and-risk profile, combining the stable
earnings of the network business with growth opportunities in customer
solutions and renewables. "This setup has a clear business logic and also
ensures an optimal opportunity-and-risk profile, since it combines the
stable earnings of the network business with growth opportunities in
customer solutions and renewables. Together, these three businesses form a
balanced and solid foundation from which we intend to tap the many
opportunities for creating lasting value and successful growth," Teyssen
said.
Focus on customer orientation
Teyssen spoke primarily about the company's new focus on the new world of
distributed-energy solutions: "I'm firmly convinced that E.ON has every
chance to play a key role in shaping this other, new future of energy in
Germany, in Europe, and beyond. With local energy networks that serve as a
smart platform for the new energy world. With more and increasingly
affordable electricity from renewable sources. And with customer solutions
that make it possible for households, companies, and communities to have an
individually tailored, digitally controlled energy supply. E.ON adopts a
radically customer-centric perspective and is committed to partnering with
customers to design an affordable, efficient, and sustainable energy world.
Our ambition is to improve people's lives."
Dividend promise kept
Teyssen also spoke about the company's financial situation. E.ON's 2015
results-EBITDA of EUR7.6 billion and underlying net income of EUR1.6
billion-were in line with expectations. The company recorded impairment
charges totaling EUR8.8 billion on power plants and upstream operations,
resulting in a substantial net loss of EUR7 billion. The impairment charges
reflect the fundamental structural changes in E.ON's business environment
and therefore highlight the need to fundamentally reorganize the company.
E.ON reduced its economic net debt by 17 percent to about EUR27.7 billion
at year-end 2015 and by another EUR1.1 billion to EUR26.6 billion at the
end of the first quarter of 2016. Despite the significant adverse factors
and the correspondingly significant impairment charges, the Management
Board and Supervisory Board propose paying out a dividend of 50 euro cents
per share, which corresponds to a payout ratio of 60 percent of underlying
net income and a dividend ratio of more than 6 percent. "We can pay this
dividend from the free cash flow we generated in 2015," Teyssen said.
"Despite the net loss we reported, we therefore consider the dividend
reasonable. We keep our word and stand by the dividend we promised."
First quarter of 2016 characterized by one-off effects
E.ON's business environment has deteriorated further in 2016. Nevertheless,
the company's first-quarter results were in line with expectations owing to
one-off effects. EBITDA increased from EUR2.8 billion to EUR3.1 billion;
underlying net income rose to EUR1.3 billion. The earnings improvement was
predominantly attributable to a nonrecurring positive effect: in late March
Uniper and Gazprom agreed to new terms for long-term gas supply contracts.
This enabled E.ON to release provisions, which it recorded in income in the
first quarter. Without this effect, E.ON's earnings would have been
slightly below the figure from the first quarter of the prior year.
Factoring in this effect, E.ON expects its full-year 2016 EBITDA to be
between EUR6.4 and EUR6.9 billion and its underlying net income to be
between EUR1.5 and EUR1.9 billion.
Both companies with good creditworthiness
The new E.ON will enter the future with a solid financial foundation and
balance sheet. Just a few weeks ago, rating agencies affirmed that their
existing ratings of BBB+ and Baa1 would apply to the new E.ON as well. The
hallmarks of the company's new medium-term financial plan are to achieve a
high degree of capital efficiency and strengthen its balance sheet. Uniper
will set off into the future with a stable foundation as well: it has a
stable investment-grade rating of BBB- and is aiming for a comfortable
investment-grade rating in the years ahead.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current
assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group Management and other
information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between
the actual future results, financial situation, development, or performance
of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and
does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking
statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
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08.06.2016 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: E.ON SE
Brüsseler Platz 1
45131 Essen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)201-184 00
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.eon.com
ISIN: DE000ENAG999
WKN: ENAG99
Indices: DAX, EURO STOXX 50
Listed: Regulated Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt (Prime
Standard), Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart;
Terminbörse EUREX; Mailand
End of News DGAP News Service
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