Energy | Uniper warns of losses of almost five billion euros

German the energy company Uniper warns that its result will fall significantly to a loss in January–September. As a result of the loss, the company has lost more than half of its registered share capital.

Uniper says in its press release that restrictions on Russian gas imports are still causing losses to its operations. Due to import restrictions, Uniper has had to purchase replacement gas for its customers at a price that is significantly higher than Russian gas.

Uniper estimates that its adjusted operating loss in January–September is EUR 4.8 billion. In last year’s comparison period, the result was EUR 614 million plus.

In addition, the company says that its capital is burdened by a write-off in the amount of billions in January-September, which the company describes as “double digits”. The entry is related to losses in the coming quarters arising from Russian gas restrictions.

Uniper’s equity has fallen to less than 50 percent of its registered share capital. According to German legislation, the company must organize an extraordinary general meeting to clarify the situation for the company’s shareholders.

Uniperin Fortum, which agreed on the sale of its holdings, says that Uniper will no longer be combined with its group figures. The company reports Uniper as a discontinued operation in its third quarter interim report.

“Uniper’s additional losses in the third quarter or beyond will not affect the overall result of the Fortum Group”, says Fortum in its press release.

In September, Fortum announced that it had signed an agreement in principle with Uniper and the German government, as a result of which Fortum will sell its Uniper holdings to the German government for approximately EUR 500 million.

The completion of the acquisition still requires several approvals from the authorities and the decision of Uniper’s extraordinary general meeting. Fortum expects the arrangement to be completed by the end of the year.