Acceptable results in difficult external conditions
The year was characterised by difficult external conditions where large customers have experienced low product prices and aluminium price developments have had a negative effect on revenues. Despite these difficulties, the company’s financial position continued to strengthen during the year and in November Moody’s announced an upgrade of the company’s credit rating.
Income statement 2019
The Group’s operating revenues decreased by USD 24 million between years which is mainly due to low aluminium prices and a weak Icelandic Krona (ISK). Electricity demand has also decreased slightly due to, among other factors, low product prices of some of our large customers. Landsvirkjun’s revenues for the year were the second highest in the company’s history.
The Group’s operating profit before depreciation and amortisation, EBITDA, amounted to USD 375 million in 2019. The decrease in EBITDA between years reflects the revenue development during the period with ISK operating expenses forming a natural hedge against revenues from the wholesale market. Operating expenses decrease between years and are in line with 2017.
The core operations continue to be strong, as can be seen in the development of profit before unrealised financial items, reflecting Landsvirkjun’s strong financial position. Profit before unrealised financial items decreases by USD 11 million between years where 2018 was the highest in the company’s history.
Operational outlook
The operations in 2019 were affected by challenging external conditions where product prices of large customers were low and developments in aluminium prices and the ISK exchange rate had negative effects on revenues. Landsvirkjun has shown a readiness to take on these challenges and will continue to focus on strengthening the company’s financial position and minimising operational risk.
Supporting documents
You can download the Financial Statements for 2019 in electronic form here. The documents contain the financial statements as a whole in Acrobat (pdf) document and the key figures in an Excel (xls) document.
