PGNiG Group: High hydrocarbon prices support upstream, hurt downstream performance

‘Thanks to diversified business and revenue streams, the PGNiG Group is able to generate solid financial results despite the unprecedented situation on the natural gas market in Europe. The key growth engine is our upstream business, led by record prices of commodities and a significant rise in gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf,’ said Iwona Waksmundzka-Olejniczak, President of the PGNiG Management Board.

For the six months to June 30th 2022, the PGNiG Group posted revenue of PLN 78.37bn, up 214% year on year. Operating expenses went up 208% year on year, to PLN 66.5bn. EBITDA was PLN 15.07bn, up 190% year on year, with EBIT at PLN 11.92bn, up 249%. The PGNiG Group earned PLN 4.84bn in net profit, up 99% year on year.

As a combined result of high hydrocarbon prices and increased production volumes, the Exploration and Production segment contributed as much as 89% to the Group’s positive EBITDA. Taking into account only positive EBITDA, the Distribution and Generation segments accounted for 7% and 4%, respectively. The Trade and Storage segment’s contribution was negative, reducing PGNiG Group’s EBITDA by PLN 3.6bn. In the six months to June 30th 2021, the respective segment contributions to the Group’s EBITDA were as follows: Exploration and Production – 53%, Distribution – 30%, Generation – 12%, Trade and Storage – 5%.

‘The breakdown of EBITDA by segment reflects the effect of high hydrocarbon prices on the PGNiG Group’s business. Favourable to Exploration and Production, they caused a major increase in costs and working capital requirements for Trade and Storage. However, the Group’s strong business foundation allows us to meet these requirements, including through external sources of finance,’ said Iwona Waksmundzka-Olejniczak.

Exploration and Production

For the six months to June 30th 2022, the segment posted revenue of PLN 17.63bn, a five-fold increase year on year. EBITDA came in at PLN 16.67bn, a six-fold increase year on year. Two factors contributed to this growth. One was an increase in the segment’s own production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and the other was the rising hydrocarbon prices.

In the first six months of the year, the PGNiG Group produced 3.48 billion cubic metres of natural gas (measured as high-methane gas equivalent), compared with 2.34 billion cubic metres a year earlier, an increase of nearly 50% year on year. The PGNiG Group’s own gas production in Norway increased from 0.39 to 1.54 billion cubic metres. Crude oil production increased almost 21%, from 608 thousand tonnes to just under 739 thousand tonnes, of which 429.6 thousand tonnes were produced from Norwegian fields, compared with 283 thousand tonnes in the first half of 2021.

The other driver of the Exploration and Production segment’s performance were hydrocarbon prices – the arithmetic mean of natural gas prices on the Day-Ahead Market of the Polish Power Exchange was PLN 472 per MWh in the six months to June 30th 2022, up 333% year on year. The average price of Brent crude in the period was PLN 453 per barrel, compared with PLN 244 a year earlier (up 86%).

Trade and Storage

In the first half of 2022, the Trade and Storage segment generated PLN 72.57bn in revenue, up 273% year on year. EBITDA was negative at PLN –3.61bn, compared with a positive result of PLN 0.27bn posted for the same period of 2021. The segment’s operating loss for the six months ended June 30th 2022 was largely attributable to the high cost of  procurement of commodities and trading.

The total volume of gas sold outside the PGNiG Group was 18.6 billion cubic metres, up 2% on the first six months of 2021. However, excluding the one-off sale of 0.9 billion cubic metres of gas to the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves in March 2022, the volume of gas sold by the PGNiG Group fell by almost 3% year on year. The decrease was led mainly by the domestic market, where the PGNiG Group sold 14,14 billion cubic metres of gas, down 7% year on year. Principal reasons for the decline included weaker demand for gas used as a heating fuel and demand having been stifled by high market prices of gas. The most significant decline in sales was recorded in the case of the PGNiG Group’s largest gas customers – 19% to PLN 3.33bn (excluding the sale to the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves).

The first half of 2022 witnessed a radical shift in the structure of the PGNiG Group’s foreign gas supply sources. The share of gas imports from across Poland’s eastern border shrank to 37%, from 58% a year earlier, while the share of LNG imports rose to 34%, compared with 25% in the same period of 2021; the share of gas sourced from the western and southern directions rose to 29%, relative to 17% the year before. The change in the structure of foreign gas supply sources was mainly attributable to Gazprom’s cessation of deliveries under the Yamal contract, which took place on April 27th, and PGNiG’s decision to increase the volume of LNG purchases, taken in the face of the tight European gas market resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rapid increase in LNG imports was enabled by expanded regasification capacities available at the LNG terminal in Świnoujście and the capacities booked at the Klaipėda terminal in Lithuania, where PGNiG received 3 shipments of liquefied natural gas during the first half of 2022.

Distribution

The Distribution segment’s revenue remained broadly stable at PLN 2.9bn. EBITDA went down 10%, to PLN 1.4bn, vs PLN 1.55bn the year before.

In the first six months of 2022, the volume of gas distributed by the segment was 6.53 billion cubic metres, a decrease of 11% year on year. It was caused among others by the decline in demand for gas used as a heating fuel, with the average air temperature during the first half of the year at 8 degrees Celsius, up 1.3 degrees over the comparative period of 2021.

Generation

In the six months to June 30th 2022, the Generation segment’s revenue from heat and electricity sales amounted to PLN 3.67bn, up 118% year on year. EBITDA rose 10% year on year, to reach PLN 0.7bn.

The improved performance was led primarily by electricity sales, with the power generation volume up 50%, to 2.76 TWh, compared with 1.83 TWh in the previous year. At the same time, the wholesale prices of electricity rose, to an average of PLN 364 per MWh in the first half of the year, relative to PLN 235 per MWh in the same period of 2021.

The segment’s heat output was 23.92 PJ, close to the previous year’s level. However, following regulatory approval of a tariff rise, the Group recorded a year-on-year increase in revenue from heat sales of 27%.

rel. PGNiG