Uniper makes its debut to capital markets

Uniper SE made its debut to investors and the media today at E.ON’s Capital Market Day in London. The Uniper Management Board presented the company’s equity story consisting of detailed information about its market, portfolio, and business performance.

“Our business is providing our customers and markets with a reliable supply of energy,” Uniper CEO Klaus Schäfer said. “This business is founded on the capabilities of our employees and a balanced portfolio of assets—from power stations, storage facilities, and pipelines to state-of-the-art trading systems— that ensure a secure flow of energy. A reliable energy supply is crucial for all countries. Consequently, the transformation of energy markets offers Uniper sufficient opportunities. We want to help shape and support this transformation in Europe and elsewhere in the world.”

Uniper released pro forma figures for its business performance for the last years as part of the E.ON Group. In 2015 Uniper’s three segments—European Generation, Global Commodities, and International Power —recorded adjusted EBITDA of €1.7 billion (2014: €2.0 billion) and adjusted EBIT of €0.8 billion (2014: €0.8 billion). All three Uniper segments posted positive adjusted EBITDA in 2015. Uniper recorded operating cash flow before interest and taxes of €2.0 billion in 2015 (2014: €1.7 billion).

In view of the current dislocations in global energy markets and the decline of power and gas prices, Schäfer and CFO Christopher Delbrück explained the need to design further comprehensive countermeasures. Their purpose will be to give Uniper a leaner organization and a lower cost base. With a pro forma economic net debt of €4.7 billion, the company additionally needs to reduce its indebtedness substantially. Particularly with regard to improved market access, the objective is for Uniper to obtain a comfortable investment-grade rating. The measures to achieve this will include significantly reducing the company’s investment expenditures and divesting operations amounting to at least €2 billion. “We want Uniper to be a lean organization,” Schäfer said. “This will give us room for maneuver and enable us to retain our leading role in the industry, even in a persistently difficult business environment,” Schäfer said. “We intend for all measures to have a rapid impact and to be completed and reflected in our bottom line by 2018.”

The management intends to pay out a dividend of €200 million for the 2016 financial year. Starting in 2017, dividend payments to shareholders will then be paid out of Uniper’s free cash from operations and will therefore be linked to the performance of its business operations.

The event in London coincided with the call to E.ON shareholders to attend the company’s ordinary 2016 Annual Shareholders Meeting in Essen, Germany, on June 8, at which they will decide on the spinoff of a majority stake in the Uniper Group. The decision requires a majority of at least 75 percent of the share capital represented at the meeting. The invitation to the Annual Shareholders Meeting is accompanied by the spinoff agreement and the spinoff report, the formal documents on which shareholders will base their decision. If E.ONs shareholders approve with the necessary majority, a roughly 53-percent stake in Uniper could be transferred to its own shareholders in 2016 in the form of new Uniper shares. It is intended to list Uniper on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The allocation ratio will be ten to one; that is, E.ON shareholders would receive one Uniper share for each ten E.ON shares they hold. E.ON intends to divest its remaining Uniper stake over the medium term. Uniper has operated independently since the start of the year and has been a European Company, or SE, since April 14.