Stock exchange release

Fortum's January-September 2018 Interim Report: Historically low hydro volumes impacted the results, partly offset by higher power prices

24 October 2018, 9:00 EEST

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FORTUM CORPORATION JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2018 INTERIM REPORT 24 OCTOBER 2018 AT 9:00 EEST

This release is a summary of Fortum’s January-September 2018 Interim Report. The complete report is attached to this release as a pdf-file. It is also available on the company's website at www.fortum.com/investors.

Fortum January-September 2018 Interim Report (pdf)

July-September 2018

  • Comparable EBITDA was EUR 230 (210) million, +10%, including EUR 26 million profit from selling a 54% share of Fortum's Indian solar power plants
  • Comparable operating profit was EUR 96 (94) million, +2%, including EUR 26 million Indian solar profit Cash flow from operating activities totalled EUR 133 (185) million
  • Earnings per share were EUR 0.05 (0.40), of which EUR -0.01 (0.34) related to items affecting comparability
  • Cash flow from operating activities totalled EUR 133 (185) million

January-September 2018

  • Comparable EBITDA was EUR 1,051 (852) million, +23%
  • Comparable operating profit was EUR 654 (516) million, +27% Cash flow from operating activities totalled EUR 767 (699) million
  • Earnings per share were EUR 0.73 (0.70), of which EUR 0.17 (0.37) related to items affecting comparability, including capital gains of EUR 0.09 from the sale of the 10% stake in Hafslund Produksjon. In 2017, the impact from a Swedish income tax case was EUR -0.14
  • Cash flow from operating activities totalled EUR 767 (699) million

Summary of outlook

  • The Generation segment's Nordic generation hedges: approximately 80% hedged at EUR 30 per MWh for the remainder of 2018, approximately 65% at EUR 30 per MWh for 2019, and approximately 35% hedged at EUR 28 per MWh for 2020
  • Capital expenditure, including maintenance but excluding acquisitions, expected to be in the range of EUR 600-700 million in 2018

Key financial ratios

  2017 LTM
Return on capital   employed, % 7.1 7.0
Comparable net   debt/EBITDA 0.8 3.6

Key figures 

EUR million or as indicated III/18 III/17 I-III/18 I-III/17 2017 LTM
Sales 971 919 3,643 3,088 4,520 5,075
Comparable EBITDA 230 210 1,051 852 1,275 1,474
Comparable operating profit 96 94 654 516 811 949
Operating profit 91 387 829 843 1,158 1,144
Share of profits of associates and
  joint ventures
12 21 82 114 148 116
Profit before income taxes 45 351 779 811 1,111 1,079
Earnings per share, EUR 0.05 0.40 0.73 0.70 0.98 1.01
Net cash from operating activities 133 185 767 699 993 1,061
Shareholders’ equity per share, EUR     13.49 14.59 14.69  
Interest-bearing net debt (at the end of the period)     5,244 1,075 988  

Fortum's President and CEO Pekka Lundmark:

"The third quarter 2018 was characterised by warm and dry weather. Following the dry weather in previous quarters, the Nordic hydro reservoirs further declined compared to the normal level, and the deficit was most prominent in the Swedish reservoirs. This heavily affected Fortum's hydro production volumes, which were historically low, and burdened the results. During the last weeks of the quarter the reservoir levels increased only in Norway.

Power, emission, and commodity prices were volatile during the quarter. Nordic power prices increased on the dry weather and rising commodity and emissions prices, but decreased at the end of the quarter on the increasing precipitation. The Generation division’s achieved power price rose, but it was not enough to compensate for the all-time low hydro volumes. The operative performance of City Solutions and Consumer Solutions was at last year's level, while the performance of the Russia division improved.

Since becoming the largest shareholder in Uniper, Fortum aims to create shareholder value for both companies. Fortum’s CFO Markus Rauramo has taken on his position in the Supervisory Board of Uniper and has been elected as Vice Chairman.

In October the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its report on limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, highlighting the urgency of determined actions to curb emissions. The message is clear: we need to reach global carbon neutrality by 2050, the power sector should reduce emissions by 100% well before 2050, 70-85% of electricity should come from renewables, and nuclear will play a bigger role. Fortum calls for an ambitious EU climate strategy. A stable, visionary, and long-term political framework for the economy is a prerequisite for European businesses investing in low-carbon technologies to remain competitive in the global market. We continue to be committed to investing in new emission-reducing energy production, as demonstrated by our inauguration of a multi-fuel CHP plant in Zabrze, Poland, and the Solberg wind power park in Sweden during the third quarter.

Finally, I would like to wish a warm welcome to Arun Aggarwal, our new member of the Fortum Executive Management. Arun has an impressive track record in digital transformation and IT leadership and will help Fortum become a digital winner in the ongoing transformation of the energy sector."

Espoo, 23 October 2018

Fortum Corporation
Board of Directors

News conference/Webcast

The joint news conference for media, investors, and analysts will be held on 24 October 2018 at 11.00 EEST at Fortum Head office, Keilalahdentie 2-4, Espoo.

The conference is available as a live webcast on Fortum's web site at www.fortum.com/investors. To participate in the teleconference, please dial in approximately 5 minutes before the beginning of the event using the numbers below:

FI +358 9 817 10310
UK +44 333 300 0804
US +1 631 913 1422

Passcode: 74482093#

The webcast will be recorded and published on Fortum's website at www.fortum.com/investors together with the transcript after the event.

Further information:

Investor Relations and Financial Communications: Ingela Ulfves, tel. +358 40 515 1531, Måns Holmberg, tel. +358 44 518 1518, Rauno Tiihonen, tel. +358 10 453 6150, Pirjo Lifländer, tel. +358 40 643 3317, and investors [at] fortum [dot] com (investors[at]fortum[dot]com)

Media: Pauliina Vuosio, tel. +358 50 453 2383

The condensed Interim Report has been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard (IAS) 34, Interim Financial Reporting, as adopted by the EU. The interim financials have not been audited.

Fortum’s Capital Markets Day

Fortum’s Capital Markets Day 2018 will be held on 13 November 2018 at Fortum's Headquarters in Espoo, Finland. Details and registration at www.fortum.com/cmd.

Financial calendar in 2019

Fortum Corporation’s Financial Statements Bulletin for the year 2018 will be published on 1 February 2019 at approximately 9:00 EET.

Fortum’s Financial Statements and Operating and Financial Review for 2018 will be published during week 8 at the latest.

Fortum will publish three interim reports in 2019:

  • January-March on 26 April 2019 at approximately 9:00 EEST
  • January-June on 19 July 2019 at approximately 9:00 EEST
  • January-September on 24 October 2019 at approximately 9:00 EEST

Fortum's Annual General Meeting 2019 is planned to take place on 26 March 2019, and the possible dividend related dates planned are:

  • Ex-dividend date 27 March 2019
  • Record date for dividend payment 28 March 2019
  • Dividend payment date 4 April 2019

Distribution:

Nasdaq Helsinki
Key media
www.fortum.com

More information, including detailed quarterly information, is available on Fortum’s website at www.fortum.com/investors