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A stellar financial year for ACWA Power

ACWA Power posted solid financial results in 2022, in a year that was not short of strong and persistent economic and supply chain-related headwinds on a global scale, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and operational challenges in some of our assets.

Remaining focused on developing reliable and responsible power generation, water desalination and green hydrogen production projects at competitive tariffs, all the while passionately pursuing and investing in the energy transition agenda of many nations, has once again constituted the backbone of our resilience and ability to deliver these remarkable financial results.

In addition to the positive financial contribution from the plants that started commercial operations during 2022, including the full-year impact of those that were partially operational in 2021, we had a robust performance with respect to financial optimisation in the form of debt and capital recycling, helping us record a stellar EPS growth on a consolidated net profit of SAR 1,540 million for the year.

Some significant capital transactions included bringing an equity partner for a project in Uzbekistan, partial buyback of ACWA 39 bond, and the debt refinancing of RAWEC, which not only allowed us to recycle capital but also resulted in financial income for the year.

We posted similarly outstanding results in the key financial indicators that we regularly monitor and report as a measure of performance. Our operating profitOperating income before impairment loss and other expenses. reached SAR 2,614 million, a 14% increase compared to 2021. Adjusted net profitAdjusted profit/(loss) attributable to equity holders of the parent., which negates the impact of non-routine, unusual or non-operational items, reached SAR 1,575 million, growing by 32% versus 2021.

Our parent operating cash flow (POCF), a key source of cash for the parent company, recorded SAR 4,162 million and was 158% higher than in 2021. And although our parent net leverage at SAR 8,818 million was moderately higher than in 2021 (+8.8%), the parent net leverage to POCF ratio stood at 2.12x (times), significantly lower than the 5.03x of year end 2021.

We will continue our energy transition journey and embark on our growth as outlined in our equity story and embraced by the hundreds of thousands of public shareholders who have been consistently demonstrating their confidence in ACWA Power since our listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange back in October 2021. We believe our dividend policy, as declared at the time of the IPO, is therefore a balanced one considering the huge visible growth pipeline that requires considerable amounts of funding. For 2021, we declared SAR 0.77 per share dividend. In line with our commitment of increasing dividend between 6 to 9% each year for the three years following our listing, we declared a SAR 0.83 per share dividend for the year 2022, which is subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming General Assembly Meeting.

Our portfolio grew in size and scale with the signing of five PPAs and a WPA during 2022, and financial closing of three projects, in addition to the dry financial close of the USD 8.5 billion Neom Green Hydrogen Project, world’s largest green hydrogen production project in construction, which came right after the year end.

As we keep growing in 2023 and beyond, maintaining the financial strength and health of the Company all the while funding the growth in the most optimal way that will ensure accomplishment of our strategic and financial targets, will unrelentingly stay at the core of our financial management agenda. ACWA Power has already demonstrated its capacity and capability in raising and recycling capital in many occasions including the landmark IPO in October 2021; we will continue to keep to these high standards going forward too.