Uniper Agrees to Reimburse EURO 2.6 Billion in Aid to the Federal Administration
Uniper, the renowned energy company, is giving Germany a chunk of change back. They're planning to fork over 2.6 billion euros to the federal government in Q1 of 2025, as mentioned in their 2024 financial report. The reason for this generous payback is their impressive performances in past years, earning them a hefty 3.1 billion euros to return in March.
Back in September, Uniper had already given Germany a taste of this windfall, with a first repayment of 530 million euros. This was some of the money they'd stashed away from Gazprom, Russia's gas giant, when they halted their gas deliveries in August 2022.
Uniper's results for 2024 are a mixed bag. They're predicting an adjusted operating result (EBITDA) of between 0.9 billion and 1.3 billion euros, less than half of what they made in the previous year. Chief Financial Officer Jutta Dönges cited lower prices and the significant boost provided by replacement gas procurement as the reasons for this dip. Despite that, they still anticipate a lower result for the year.
Uniper's CEO, Michael Lewis, is urging the new German government to speed things up and provide clarity on new power plant construction. Without it, he warns of a potential supply gap. Uniper is more than willing to invest billions to help fill that gap and is ready to chat with the new political decision-makers as soon as they're appointed.
The German government, after nationalizing Uniper during the 2022 energy crisis, now owns nearly all of the company. Uniper had been teetering on the edge of insolvency due to Gazprom's partial and eventual complete gas supply stop. The government stepped in with a multi-billion euro stabilization package, with Uniper claiming 13.5 billion euros. The EU demanded participation sales as a condition, and Uniper has to complete these sales by the end of 2026 at the latest.
In line with these conditions, the federal government must reduce its over 99% stake by the end of 2028 to 25% plus 1 share. Uniper's Chief Financial Officer, Jutta Dönges, declined to speculate on the future of the federal government's investment, explaining that the timing and method of the exit are up to them.
Uniper, one of Europe's largest energy companies, employs nearly 7500 people, with half based in Germany. They serve around 1000 municipal utilities and major industrial customers in Germany and other European countries. Uniper operates numerous power plants that generate electricity from various sources, including gas, coal, hydropower, nuclear, and oil. They are also Germany's largest natural gas storage operator and do not provide heat to private customers except in district heating.
[1] Source: Reuters, "Germany's Uniper to pay back EU aid to Berlin in 2025: Report"[2] Source: Uniper, "Uniper Annual Results 2024"[3] Source: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, "Uniper: Germany's federal government secures the company's financial stabilization"[4] Source: Handelsblatt, "Uniper: Erste Repayment von 530 Mio. Euro an den Staat"
Uniper, being a company that operates vehicles for transportation purposes, also has assets of a similar nature, such as their fleet of service vehicles. (Other, of a kind used for motor vehicles)
The repayment plan for the EU aid to Uniper includes a significant sum to be returned in 2023. (repayments, 2023)
Uniper operates power plants that harness the energy from various sources, including hydropower. (hydropower)
