E.On has reiterated plans to pass on lower power and gas costs to millions of its customers, weighing on profits this year.
It comes in response wholesale prices falling back from record levels seen last year after Russia cut gas deliveries to Germany.
The group, which is Europe’s biggest operator of energy networks, said the market environment for its business was improving following last year’s energy crisis, sounding a more optimistic tone about the months ahead.
Boss Leonhard Birnbaum, said: ‘After a long period of crisis, we sense that the headwinds for our business are diminishing.’
Customer bills: E.On has reiterated plans to pass on lower power and gas costs to millions of its customers
On prices, the group said: ‘Declining prices on wholesale market will be systematically passed through to customers; as announced, price reductions on power and gas for millions of customers will be made in late summer.’
Last month, E.On reported preliminary results and a higher outlook for this year. The group dished out a dividend of 51 cents per share for the 2022 financial year, paid out in the second quarter.
Adjusted net profit for the first half came in at €2.3billion, up from €1.4billion a year earlier.
E.On, which intends to invest billions in the 2023 to 2027 period, confirmed its outlook for the current year and said it was still expecting adjusted core profit of €8.6billion to €8.8billion.
E.On said it now expected adjusted net income for the full year to be between €2.7billion and €2.9billion.
That is up from previous expectations of €2.3billion to €2.5billion, and exceeds a forecast of €2.4billion in a consensus of 19 analysts published on E.On’s investor relations website.
E.On said the figures were preliminary, adding that it would release full earnings data on 9 August.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Birnbaum said that recent weather and the energy price crisis of the last year shows the world must move beyond carbon-emitting energy sources.
He said: ‘July 2023 was the hottest month the world has ever experienced since weather records began.
‘Climate change is here, and it’s becoming more and more tangible.
‘And the energy crisis too has shown us that we must finally forgo fossil fuels and design an independent, affordable, and secure green energy supply. That’s why the demand for sustainable energy solutions is growing.’
It comes as Germany has set out plans to expand the total capacity of its wind and solar farms to 330 gigawatts by the end of this decade.
The UK Government is planning for 50GW of offshore wind and 70GW of solar by 2035.
E.On said it has received 240,000 applications from renewable generation sites to connect to its German electricity grid in the six months, more than twice as high as last year.
‘In particular, we’re seeing a real connection boom for small solar systems for private households’, Birnbaum said.
