Northland Power , a Canadian power producer, revealed a decline in earnings and sales for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2023. Despite the challenges, the company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance, anticipating results at the lower end of the forecast.
In the third quarter, Northland recorded a net attributable profit of CAD 36.2 million (USD 26.2m/EUR 24.5m), down from CAD 81.7 million in the corresponding period last year. Sales experienced a 7.7% dip, amounting to CAD 513.3 million, with the results aligning with expectations. The decrease was attributed to significantly lower power prices in Europe, reaching their peak in the same period the previous year.
Sales from Northland's offshore wind farms saw a 16% contraction to CAD 232 million year-on-year. However, this decline was partially offset by increased turbine availability at the Nordsee One park in the German North Sea. The company's offshore wind fleet generated 2% more electricity compared to the previous year, thanks to Nordsee Ost and higher wind resources at the Dutch Gemini.
Onshore renewable facilities experienced a 25% increase in sales, totaling CAD 118 million, primarily driven by adjustments related to the regulated posted price and the merchant pool price. Nonetheless, the output from these facilities decreased by 12%, attributed to lower wind resources across Canadian and Spanish onshore wind facilities.
President and CEO Mike Crawley expressed satisfaction with the Q3 financial results, stating, “Our third-quarter financial results were solid and in line with our expectations.”
Looking ahead, Northland plans to adhere to the lower end of its adjusted EBITDA forecast for the full year, ranging from CAD 1.2 billion to CAD 1.3 billion. The company also anticipates adjusted free cash flow per share to be at the lower end of the forecasted range of CAD 1.70 to CAD 1.90.
Crawley addressed the challenges, noting, “Despite the regulatory changes in Spain last quarter and the challenges in the economy more broadly, we expect to deliver solid financial and operating results this year, as a result of positive offsets from other planned activities, including sell-downs.”
With a gross operating capacity exceeding 3 GW and a pipeline of around 15 GW, Northland remains optimistic about achieving substantial growth in adjusted EBITDA by 2027.
