“2023 is on track to becoming the best operating year in Landsvirkjun’s history. The profit from core operations for the first nine months of the year increased by about 27 percent from 2022, which was a record year at the time. Power revenues increased by about 14% compared to the prior year despite significant decreases on international energy and commodity markets where prices to industrial customers is partially linked to these markets. This can be explained by hedges which delay the effects of these decreases. Interest expenses in excess of interest income continued to decrease, as for prior years, because of decreasing debt and now increasing interest income. Today, 77% of our debt has fixed interest rates which means that they don’t change when interest rates are hiked on financial markets.
Cash flow from operations amounted to almost USD 363 million during the period which is almost a quarter increase from the same period of the prior year. Net debt continued to decrease, by about USD 283 million, and the key ratio of net debt to EBITDA is now down to 1.1, which is among the best seen for comparable companies. As has been mentioned before, this improved financial position means that the company’s ability to pay dividends to its owners, the people of Iceland, has increased significantly.
Although Landsvirkjun's operations continue to exceed expectations at the moment, there are concerns on the horizon in the nation's energy matters. Increasing energy demand is foreseeable due to energy transition and the general growth of the economy, and now there is an urgent need to build further electricity generation capacity to meet it. At Landsvirkjun, we are currently working diligently to obtain the necessary permits to begin construction on new power plants, which are prerequisites for the significant changes that lie ahead.“
