MVV Energie Cuts 2023 Profit, Plans 9% Dividend Increase
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German regional utility MVV Energie on Thursday reported a halving of annual profit but proposed a dividend increase of 9% for its 2024 fiscal year ended in September.
MVV, based in Mannheim where the city owns a 50.1% stake in the company, said it planned to raise its dividend to 1.25 euros per share for 2024 from 1.15 euros the previous year.
MVV has long held certified targets to transition to low-carbon heat as well as electricity-, waste- and biomass-based energy products for industry and household customers ahead of some bigger sector peers.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to 426 million euros ($447.98 million), down from 880 million euros a year earlier, said MVV, in which Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's First Sentier Investors owns a 45.1% stake.
"The exceptional financial year 2023 was characterised by non-repeatable one-off effects, in particular by disposal proceeds from asset sales and by an exceptional wholesale price-related development," CEO Georg Mueller said.
Operating earnings in 2025 will likely be in a range of 350 to 400 million euros, he said.
"Overall, we assume that our broad-based business model will also give us stability in the 2025 financial year," he said.
($1 = 0.9509 euros)
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Rachel More)
