Berlin, July 1 - Neftegaz.RU. Uniper has retracted its financial guidance for 2022 as spiralling gas prices have driven it to seek support from the German government.
In particular, the company said it had withdrawn its adjusted EBIT and adjusted net income projections for the year, Energy Voice has reported.
Uniper reported an adjusted loss of €615 million ($642 mln) for the 1st quarter and an adjusted EBIT of negative €829 mln ($865 mln) for the 1st quarter.
It suggested adjusted EBIT for the year would be €1-1.3 billion ($1.04-1.35 bln) and adjusted net income would be €800 million to 1.1 billion ($835 mln to $1.15 bln).
The company attributed its hard times to gas supply restrictions from Gazprom.
Since June 16, Uniper has only received 40% of contracted volumes from the Russian company.
It has secured alternative volumes, but these have come at «significantly higher prices».
Furthermore, it said, gas price developments are challenging to project.
As such, it is working out how to secure the company’s liquidity.
One potential change would be to pass on higher prices to consumers.
This, it said, would be «necessary and essential» to issuing a new earnings outlook.
Uniper said it has started talks with the German government on «possible stabilisation measures».
These could include guarantees or collateral from the government, equity investments, or increasing the credit facility from KfW.
Germany warned of an emergency in gas supplies last week, a step before rationing.
German Minister for Economic Affairs & Climate Action Robert Habeck has spoken this week of a major push to ramp up heat pumps, in an effort to tackle the country’s energy needs.
The country’s government is working on plans to secure new LNG supplies.
Habeck visited Qatar in March in an attempt to sign up gas for the country’s new terminals.
Uniper has signed up to participate in the regasification projects.
In addition to Qatar, German officials have talked with Canadian developers on LNG supplies.
Author: Ed Reed
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Uniper hits cash crunch, calls for German government assistance
German energy giant Uniper is one of the largest customers of Russia’s Gazprom
