Download Uniper makes its debut to capital markets

Embargoed until:
April 26, 2016, 08:30 Uhr CEST
Press Release
April 26, 2016
Uniper SE
E.ON-Platz 1
40479 Düsseldorf
Germany
www.uniper.energy
Uniper makes its debut to capital markets
Direct inquiries to:
• CEO Klaus Schäfer: “Our business is reliable energy”
• Pro forma figures reflect difficult environment in energy markets
• Further cost cutting and restructuring measures necessary
• Shareholders to receive a cashflow based dividend in the future
Josef Nelles
T +49 2 11-45 79-35 70
M +49 1 62-9 71 19 57
[email protected]
Uniper SE made its debut to investors and the media today at E.ON’s Capital
Market Day in London. The Uniper Management Board presented the
company’s equity story consisting of detailed information about its market,
portfolio, and business performance.
“Our business is providing our customers and markets with a reliable supply of
energy,” Uniper CEO Klaus Schäfer said. “This business is founded on the
capabilities of our employees and a balanced portfolio of assets—from power
stations, storage facilities, and pipelines to state-of-the-art trading systems—
that ensure a secure flow of energy. A reliable energy supply is crucial for all
countries. Consequently, the transformation of energy markets offers Uniper
sufficient opportunities. We want to help shape and support this transformation
in Europe and elsewhere in the world.”
Uniper released pro forma figures for its business performance for the last
years as part of the E.ON Group. In 2015 Uniper’s three segments—European
Generation, Global Commodities, and International Power —recorded adjusted
EBITDA of €1.7 billion (2014: €2.0 billion) and adjusted EBIT of €0.8 billion
(2014: €0.8 billion). All three Uniper segments posted positive adjusted
EBITDA in 2015. Uniper recorded operating cash flow before interest and taxes
of €2.0 billion in 2015 (2014: €1.7 billion).
In view of the current dislocations in global energy markets and the decline of
power and gas prices, Schäfer and CFO Christopher Delbrück explained the
need to design further comprehensive countermeasures. Their purpose will be
to give Uniper a leaner organization and a lower cost base. With a pro forma
economic net debt of €4.7 billion, the company additionally needs to reduce its
indebtedness substantially. Particularly with regard to improved market access,
the objective is for Uniper to obtain a comfortable investment-grade rating. The
measures to achieve this will include significantly reducing the company’s
investment expenditures and divesting operations amounting to at least €2
billion. “We want Uniper to be a lean organization,” Schäfer said. “This will give
us room for maneuver and enable us to retain our leading role in the industry,
even in a persistently difficult business environment,” Schäfer said. “We intend
for all measures to have a rapid impact and to be completed and reflected in
our bottom line by 2018.”
Georg Oppermann
T +49 2 11-45 79-55 32
M +49 1 78-4 39 48 47
georg.oppermann
@uniper.energy
The management intends to pay out a dividend of €200 million for the 2016
financial year. Starting in 2017, dividend payments to shareholders will then be
paid out of Uniper’s free cash from operations and will therefore be linked to
the performance of its business operations.
The event in London coincided with the call to E.ON shareholders to attend the
company’s ordinary 2016 Annual Shareholders Meeting in Essen, Germany, on
June 8, at which they will decide on the spinoff of a majority stake in the Uniper
Group. The decision requires a majority of at least 75 percent of the share
capital represented at the meeting. The invitation to the Annual Shareholders
Meeting is accompanied by the spinoff agreement and the spinoff report, the
formal documents on which shareholders will base their decision. If E.ONs
shareholders approve with the necessary majority, a roughly 53-percent stake
in Uniper could be transferred to its own shareholders in 2016 in the form of
new Uniper shares. It is intended to list Uniper on the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange. The allocation ratio will be ten to one; that is, E.ON shareholders
would receive one Uniper share for each ten E.ON shares they hold. E.ON
intends to divest its remaining Uniper stake over the medium term. Uniper has
operated independently since the start of the year and has been a European
Company, or SE, since April 14.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions
and forecasts made by Uniper SE management and other information currently available to
Uniper. 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. Uniper 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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