(AOF) – German energy giant Uniper announced a record net loss of 40 billion euros in the first nine months of the year, reflecting expected future losses following Russia’s decision to cut off gas supplies. “Our half-year figures already indicated that this situation had left massive scars in our financial results,” explained financial director Tiina Tuomela, adding that the nationalization plan was being finalized.
According to Uniper, the net loss was caused by the 10 billion euros of losses caused by the replacement of Russian gas volumes on the spot market at much higher prices, as well as 31 billion euros of future losses related to this situation.
After very good results in the previous year, the decline is mainly attributable to the gas activity, which is penalized by high replacement costs due to the reduction in gas deliveries from Russia between June 14 and September 30, 2022.
The negative impact of Uniper was further exacerbated in the third quarter of 2022 by the complete cessation of all gas delivery. In order to fulfill its contracts with its customers, Uniper was forced to purchase gas on the spot market at high prices.
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Threat to the European energy system
The leading importer of German gas, Uniper posts 54% of the volumes it buys from Russia. Following the war in Ukraine, the group had to acquire the volumes it lacked on the spot market, the prices of which had exploded. In difficulty, he requested aid from the German state, which raises concerns for all European energy companies. Nevertheless the German RWE and the French Engie reacted by arguing that their situation was very different. RWE stressed that it was less dependent on Russian gas. As for Engie, it benefits from the diversification of its sources of supply, with an increase in the volumes of LNG delivered in France and contracts with Norway and Algeria. The group has also adapted its hedging strategy to strengthen its resilience.