Pummelled by gas crisis, Germany's Uniper posts $12.5 billion net loss

Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
Tue, August 16, 2022 

The logo of German energy utility company Uniper SE is pictured in the company's headquarters in Duesseldorf

FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -German utility Uniper, which secured a 15 billion euro state bailout last month, reported a net loss of 12.3 billion euros ($12.5 billion) for the first half, mainly due to lower Russian gas supplies that forced it to buy at higher prices elsewhere.

"Uniper has, for months, been playing a crucial role in stabilising Germany's gas supply - at the cost of billions in losses resulting from the sharp drop in gas deliveries from Russia," Chief Executive Klaus-Dieter Maubach said.

Shares in the company were indicated to open 2.6% lower.

Uniper, Germany's largest importer of Russian gas, said more than half of the net loss was due to significantly reduced gas deliveries from Moscow, which has cut flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just a fifth.

The loss also includes 2.7 billion euros in impairments related to the cancelled Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Uniper backed financially, in addition to goodwills of its Russian business Unipro.

"The most urgent task for Uniper is to find alternative gas supplies," Third Bridge analyst Allegra Dawes said, adding it expected deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via a planned Uniper-led terminal in Wilhelmshaven by the first half of 2023.

As part of the state bailout, Germany will take a 30% stake in Uniper and has pledged 9 billion euros of credit lines via state-lender KfW, 5 billion euros of which have been drawn.

"This will prevent a chain reaction that would do much more damage. Our top priority now is to swiftly implement the stabilisation package," Maubach said.

Uniper expects the package to be approved at an extraordinary general meeting in the autumn.

Uniper also said it was unable to give an outlook for 2022, only saying it expected a loss. Profits are forecast to improve next year and the aim is to leave the "loss zone" in early 2024, Chief Financial Officer Tiina Tuomela said.

($1=0.9821 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Additional reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Uttaresh.V and Edmund Blair)