RWE reports Q1 profit decrease on weak trading and poor winds

RWE, Germany's largest electric utility, announced Thursday that its core earnings for the first quarter (adjusted EBIDTA) dropped by almost a quarter. This was due to a poor commodity trading business and bad wind conditions which impacted RWE's offshore operations.

RWE reported that the first-quarter adjusted EBITDA was 1.307 billion euro ($1.46 billion), which is also lower than the average forecast, 1.321 billion euro in a survey provided by the company.

RWE, under pressure from activists to increase share buybacks has still confirmed its outlook for 2025. It expects adjusted EBITDA of between 4,55 billion and 5,15 billion euros, and a dividend per share of 1,20 euros.

In light of the regulatory obstacles and risks in the supply chain, earlier this year, the group set more ambitious returns targets for new projects. It also cut its investment program by more than half.

It announced on Thursday that, if the targets were not achieved, which are defined as a rate of return average of over 8.5%, it would adjust its capital allocation, and reinvest any savings into additional share buybacks.

RWE has a program that will buy back its shares up to a maximum of 1.5 billion euros until the second quarter 2026. $1 = 0.8933 Euros (Reporting and editing by Rachel More and Kirsti Knolle).

(source: Reuters)