ESB says profits hit by storm repair costs

ESB saw its operating profit fall by €33 million in the first six months of the year, falling to €326 million as the energy provider was hit by storm repair costs of € 25 million incurred.

Revenues fell by 4.5 per cent, down to €1.6 billion, while pre-tax profits slumped by 47 per cent in the six months to June 31st, declining to €113 million, as the restructuring of inflation linked swaps hit ESB.

Dividend payments jumped up to €236 million, up from €78 million in 2013. The payments relate mainly to proceeds from the disposal of assets (Marchwood Power Station and Bizkaia Energia SL) in line with the Government's request for a one off dividend of € 400 million to be paid by ESB.

ESB’s chief executive Pat O’Doherty said the results reflect “a solid performance across the group”.

“The performance improvement programme ESB embarked on in 2010 has delivered significant recurring savings across the business and has helped to offset the impact of falling energy margins and significant storm restoration costs in the early part of the year”.

During the first six months of the year, ESB invested over € 200m in energy infrastructure across the island of Ireland, an increase of € 47m over the same period last year.

ESB said that it contributes over € 2bn annually to the Irish economy through dividends, investments, taxes and jobs.