Mytilineos expects profits to double amidst 600-mln-euro investment plan

Mytilineos is moving along at a high speed and sees profits doubling in 2022 amidst a huge investment program, the largest currently implemented by a Greek group.

Speaking at the annual shareholders meeting yesterday, president and CEO, Evangelos Mytilineos, spoke of the company taking off, forecasting that earnings will double in 2022 from 2020 levels.

At the same time, he said the company is implementing a 600-million-euro investment program as conditions improve.

"2021 will be the big year for our investment program and we will start to see the first results, as long as there are no negative surprises," said Mytilineos. “This year will improve from quarter to quarter and will see how a company can be profitable in the midst of a colossal investment program."

Referring to the issue of borrowing, he noted that an increase in liabilities is inevitable in the midst of such a large investment plan, but stressed that the debt-to-earnings ratio (EBITDA) is currently 1.7 and is excellent globally, much lower than other companies that are considered to be healthy.

One of the points that made an impression from Mytilineos’ comments was the announcement that in coming days there will be news about an agreement with PPC concerning the new electricity tariff agreement with Aluminum of Greece.

As he said, in 2023, after 60 years of cooperation with PPC, the company will be electrified by the natural gas unit of 826 MW in Agios Nikolaos, Boeotia, but also via bilateral contracts for photovoltaics. "We will make aluminum green and have cheaper energy", said the company head.

Separately, Mytilineos also announced the finalization of a 10-year agreement for the sale of aluminum, with a total value of more than 1.5 billion dollars with Glencore, stressing that under the agreement the sale price of alumina will be stable for the next four years .

Boosting its RES portfolio

The company is determined to proceed with its RES investment plan, noting that out of the 1480MW of Egnatia Group purchased in February, construction on 572 MW will start in the summer.

In terms of wind, the company has 300MW in operation or under construction while an additional 100MW are ready for construction. At the same time, Mytilineos noted that the company is in negotiations with several interested parties for the signing of new bilateral agreements (PPAs) in the field of storage, waiting for the relevant legal framework from the fall, while the company has applied for production licenses for 25 storage projects.

Abroad, 507 MW are under construction and 120MW of them will be put into operation in the coming days in Australia. An additional 788MW is ready for construction, while Mytilineos has 4000MW in various stages of licensing. Mytilineos also noted that they are in negotiations for new projects in Spain and Africa with Total Eren.

He stressed, however, that we have the first signs of an increase in basic raw material costs for photovoltaics and this is expected to offset the downward pressure on energy prices “ bearing in mind that the Chinese have managed to oligopolize the panel market in recent years and thus, in a way, control the market. So, on the one hand, we have a tendency for higher production to help in the fight against climate change and, on the other hand, we have a country that controls the market.”