ACWA Power Company shrugged off the pandemic, geopolitical tensions and challenges relating to supply chains and inflation to post adjusted net profit of SAR1,575m in 2022, up 32{7bfcd0aebedba9ec56d5615176ab7cebc5409dfb82345290162ba6c44abf8bc8} on 2021.
The results reflected the full year impact of projects completed throughout 2021 in addition to new contributions from projects finished in the current year. Operating income totalled SAR2,614m, up 14{7bfcd0aebedba9ec56d5615176ab7cebc5409dfb82345290162ba6c44abf8bc8} on 2021.
In addition to higher operating income before impairment and other expenses, growth for the Riyadh-based company was largely driven by lower impairment losses in the year compared to 2021 and financial income and gain recognised on settlement of long-term financing and funding facilities and divestment of partial stake in the company’s Sirdarya project in Uzbekistan.
Coinciding with the results, ACWA Power announced a partnership agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan, to develop a 1GW wind energy and battery storage project within the Central Asian country.
Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman, ACWA Power, said its results are a testament to its philosophy of generating returns while focusing on developing solutions that serve people and are responsible to the planet.
He said, “As we look to the future, we will continue to rely on the ingenuity of our people, strong relationships with our business partners across our stakeholder domain, and the technical and institutional knowledge we have developed over nearly 20 years of operations to grow our business while realising a greener future for all.”
Paddy Padmanathan, President, and CEO, said 2022 was its first full year as a listed company.
He said, “We have proved that our develop-invest-operate-optimise business model can weather geopolitical, economic and supply chain challenges to a large extent.
“As we look towards 2023 and beyond, we remain steadfast on delivering sustainable value, as well as achieving positive impact across the numerous communities in which we serve.”
Following the company’s submission of an application to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) of Saudi Arabia to issue the second tranche of Sukuk under the SAR5bn programme, ACWA Power raised SAR1.8bn in February at a record pricing in double digits in the SAR market since 2017, at 2.24 times oversubscription. The company also completed the refinancing of in several of its project companies including RAWEC and SWEC.
As part of its liquidity management agenda, the company has completed a partial buy back through a tender offer of the ACWA39 bonds issued by one of the company’s subsidiaries in addition early repayment of some of its equity bridge loans and a convertible loan.
During the year, the company entered into several sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with respect to Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Company, ACWA Power Uzbekistan Project Holding Company, Shuaa Energy 3, Vinh Hao 6 Power Joint Stock Company and ACWA Power Green Energy Africa Proprietary Limited.
Overall, in 2022 ACWA Power added 5.44GW of power generation and 600,000 cubic metres per day of water desalination capacity in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Uzbekistan by way of signing new power or water purchase agreements, the largest capacity additions in a single calendar year in the company’s history.
Abdulhameed AlMuhaidib, Chief Financial Officer, ACWA Power, said, “Our first full year as a public company involved many operational and financial developments – in addition to expanding in existing markets, we actively engaged in the debt capital markets and effectively recycled our capital in line with our long-term strategy.”