AlwaysFree: Finnish State-Owned Energy Company Gasum Group Q1 2023 – Volumes Picked Up from 2022 Year-End Levels Reflecting a More Stable Operating Environment

• Customers are starting to return to gas after switching to other lower cost and higher emissions fuel options during 2022. At the start of the year volumes were gradually increasing but were still lower than in Q1 2022.

January–March 2023 (Q1 2023):

• The Group’s revenue decreased by 40 per cent to EUR 455.6 (758.0) million.
• Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR –19.3 (-11.3) million at loss. Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) was EUR -11.3 (5.5) million
• Balance sheet total came to EUR 1,745.2 (2,348.2) million
• Equity ratio was 29.9 (18.0) per cent
• Sales volumes decreased by 45 per cent compared to Q1 2022 and were 3.3 (6.0) TWh 

According to the company’s website press release on May 3, 2023, Gasum Group CEO Mika Wiljanen comments on Q1 of 2023:

“The operating environment in the energy sector was beginning to stabilize during the first quarter of the year, which was a welcomed development from the roller coaster ride of the previous year. During 2022 record high gas prices drove customers to switch to cheaper more polluting fuels, but the first quarter of 2023 saw them beginning to return to gas.

This is good news for the climate, as natural gas, and not to mention biogas, has a significantly lower carbon footprint than other fuel options. Gas remains to possess the biggest and fastest potential in the short term for carbon emissions reductions in the maritime and land transportation segments as well as industrial processes. 

Because of more reasonable prices during Q1 of 2023 we saw gas volumes picking up from the slump of the previous year. As volumes have been growing, customers have also shown an increased interest in fixed price contracts.

The Group’s revenue for Q1 of 2023 was EUR 544.6 million, operating profit was EUR –19.3 million and adjusted operating profit was EUR -11.3 million. In Q1, we also managed to release working capital by actively managing our inventories especially in natural gas. Group net interest-bearing debt declined to EUR 158.2 million during the quarter.

During the first quarter of the year we published our new strategic goal of bringing 7 TWh of renewable gas yearly to market by 2027. This would result in a cumulative saving of 1.8 million tons of CO2 emissions for our customers.

Gasum’s new strategy has been actively implemented during the start of the year – a total of 16 strategic projects were ongoing throughout the first quarter. I have the utmost trust in the Gasum staff to deliver results in these projects as well as the ones that will still be started during the year. 

During the first three months of the year, work at our next new large scale biogas plant in Götene, Sweden proceeded as planned. We also opened a new filling station in Luleå to meet growing customer demand in the northernmost parts of Sweden. The station is a result of cooperation between Sandahls Logistik and Gasum.

In January we launched an open innovation competition called the GasumHackathon to find solutions and partners to utilize the biogenic carbon dioxide generated as a side stream from the biogas upgrading process in Gasum’s biogas plants in Finland and Sweden. The competition is a collaboration with the BioEconomy Business Accelerator BioPaavo by JAMK University of Applied Sciences and growth company consultancy Kasvu Open.

In the maritime segment we registered Gasum for business in the Netherlands as this will strengthen our presence and opportunities in the Northwest Europe bunker market. We also joined the SeaFocus Intelligence Hunt program to collaborate with students in mapping out the future of energy use in maritime transportation.”

Read the whole review on website

For more information please contact:

Mika Wiljanen, Chief Executive Officer, Gasum

Heidi Westerberg, Executive Assistant

Phone: +358 50 576 0951, heidi.westerberg@gasum.com 

Olga Väisänen, Vice President, Communications and Sustainability, Gasum

Phone: +358 40 55 40 578, olga.vaisanen@gasum.com 

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