Fortum Oyj Corp Ord

Good morning, everyone. A warm welcome to Fortum's joint webcast and news conference on our first quarter 2026 results. My name is Ingela Ulves, and I'm heading the investor relations at Fortum. As always, this event is being recorded, and there will be a replay on the website later today. With me here in the studio are our CEO, Markus Raurama, and our CFO, Tiina Tuomela. They will present the group's financial and operational performance for the first quarter. Now let's go to our presentations, after which we will take your questions in the Q&A session. So with this, I hand over to you, Markus, to start.

Thank you very much, Ingella. A warm welcome to this call, also from my side. I will start by going through the key elements of our highlights and our financial performance, then say a couple of words about the market development. After that, Tina will provide more details on the financials and how the operational performance turned into our results. Let me now start with the highlights. Starting with achieved power price. In the first quarter, it was slightly above last year's level. 62.5 euros per megawatt hour compared to 60.1 in the first quarter last year. The realized market price, i.e. the blended price for Fortum's price areas, was 85.7 euros per megawatt hour compared to 46 euros per megawatt hour in the first quarter 2025. One of the clear highlights during the quarter was the optimization premium. It was again double-digit, as it was also one year ago. We keep our full year guidance for the premium intact, and it is expected to be between 8 to 10 euros per megawatt hour. The first quarter was characterized by relatively high spot prices and several price spikes, especially in January and February. Because of these high prices, we maximized our hydro generation, and the outcome was 5.9 TWh of output from hydro in the quarter. Nuclear generation was almost at last year's level, despite the unplanned outage in Oskarsham 3. Overall, our outright generation volume was 12.2 TWh, which is 0.6 TWh more than in the first quarter last year. Despite uncertainty in the operating environment, we continue to see robust underlying customer demand from various industrial sectors, which we believe reflects the long-term power demand growth. We see the data center sector remaining very active, particularly in Finland. As we have announced this year, we are supporting day one in its plans to build a data center in Nurmijärvi and end scale with its plans to establish a data center in Harjavalta. We are progressing with site development to meet future customer needs. Due to this high activity level from data centers and considering the projected demand growth, There has been discussions, especially in Finland, about future power availability. Current supply-demand balance in the Nordics shows a surplus with existing capacity. Lifetime extensions of nuclear power plants and preparedness to invest in renewables and other capacity can allow power generators to meet the foreseen increase in consumption. We have a strong balance sheet and good liquidity, so our overall financial position continues to be strong. The cash dividend of 74 euro cents per share was paid in the second quarter. After the reporting period, we signed a new 2.7 billion revolving credit facility, which replaces the previous one. Then over to our main figures and financial performance. Here are familiar comparable headline KPIs for the group's first quarter 2026. Positive development in all KPIs except cash flow and the reason for cash flow decrease is higher working capital. In Q1, our comparable operating profit totaled 521 million euros, an increase of 59 million euros. Comparable earnings per share increased from 42 to 45 cents per share. Operative cash flow decreased clearly to 355 million euros due to increased working capital. The increased working capital reflects higher sales prices. All of these lead to a leverage of 1.1 times measured by net debt to comparable EBITDA ratio. Tina will tell you more about our new net debt definition and transition of the Nordic power futures from Nasdaq to Euronext. Next, a few words about the market environment. Let's start by looking at the spot price and hydro reservoir situation for the Nordic market. It is good to note that this is not only Fortum's reservoirs, but the whole market. In the first quarter, Nordic spot prices increased significantly year on year. The reason was a combination of elevated consumption due to cold weather, reservoir levels being below average levels, and low wind power supply. Nordic power demand increased by approximately 8 TWh year on year, while wind availability was significantly below the seasonal average in the Nordics. In January and February, these weather conditions resulted in higher Nordic hydropower generation. At the beginning of the year, there was a moderate Nordic reservoir surplus, which then deteriorated during the quarter. In March, Nordic weather-driven fundamentals softened, resulting in a clear decline in spot prices and some recovery in the Nordic reservoir balance. Meanwhile, continental European electricity prices also strengthened in March, as gas prices surged following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Precipitation levels were well below normal, particularly in January and February. Temperatures were colder than normal, while March was milder than the historical average. As a result, hydro inflows were close to normal, but Nordic hydro generation was above average, driven by higher power demand. The reservoir balance at the beginning of the year with the moderate surplus declined sharply during the quarter. This concludes my part, and I would now like to hand over to Tiina to talk more about business performance.

Thank you, Markus. Good morning, everyone, also on my behalf. I will now go through our financials in more detail. Let's start with the key figures. I will start with some of the comparable KPIs. The comparable operating profit for the first quarter amounted to 521 million euros, which is a clear increase from previous year. In the quarter also comparable net profit and comparable EPS increased. our comparable net profit for the quarter improved to 404 million euros. Consequently, our comparable EPS for the first quarter rose to 45 euro cents compared to 42 euro cents last year. Our cash flow during the quarter was 98 million lower than previous year and totaled 355 million euros. The positive effect of the higher EBITDA was offset by the negative change in working capital compared to the previous year. The main reason for the higher working capital comes from higher receivables in consumer solutions caused by higher power prices. Then over to the segment result for the comparable operating profit. Let's have a look at the first quarter. The group's comparable operating profits improved due to the higher result in generation segment. The profits of consumer solution was good and basically at the same level as last year, while the other operation segment's results declined. In the generation segment, comparable operating profits increased by 67 million to 503 million euros, mainly due to the higher hydro volumes and power prices, partly offset by the high hedge ratio. The optimization premium was good, and similar to last year, it was double-digit. Consumer solution comparable operating profits was almost at last year's level, which means that the result was the second best quarterly result. The reporting period includes a marginally positive effect of the acquisitions of Orange Energy completed in June 2025. In the other operation segment, comparable operating profit decreased by 8 million, showing a negative result of 28 million euros. The main reason was higher fixed cost and lower internal charges for services of enabling functions. Then over to the loan maturities, leverage and liquidity. Our financial position continues to be strong, primarily supporting our objective to maintain a credit rating of at least BBB. It naturally also provides a good financial foundation in this very uncertain and turbulent market environment, but it also cutters for growth and shareholder returns. In these uncertain times with various geopolitical conflicts, this is a very good position to be in. Before going through the reconciliation of our net debt, I want to highlight a few changes that we have made. These relate to our derivatives trading and our definition of net debt. In March this year, Nasdaq Nordic Power Futures business and trading with Nordic Futures transitioned to Euronext, and Fortum's position at Nasdaq was recreated to Euronext accordingly. Following the transition of our Power Futures business to Euronext, Fortum has simplified the measure for indebtedness and reports net debt instead of financial net debt from the first quarter of 2026 onwards. In the previously used financial net debt, the margin receivables and liabilities and the collateral arrangement receivables were netted. However, With the new definition, net debt, the net margin receivables and the collateral arrangement receivables are not netted anymore. From the first country onwards, the net debt is consequently defined only as interest-bearing loans, lease liabilities and liquid funds. Going forward, our leverage ratio is consequently net debt to comparable EBITDA compared to the earlier financial net debt to comparable EBITDA. The maximum leverage for the net debt to comparable EBITDA remains unchanged at 2.5 times. We have presented the effect of this change in our interim report. Following the change, our net debt increased by 364 million euros. Please see further information in notes 5 and 12 in our interim report. At the beginning of the first quarter, according to the new definition, our net debt was 1.8 billion euros. In the first quarter, the operating cash flow was 355 million, and investments amounted to 113 million euros. The change in interest-bearing receivables amounted to 40 million, while effects and other effects were 32 million euros. The change in collateral debt was 141 million euros. Consequently, at the end of the quarter, our net debt was 1.5 billion euros, and the leverage ratio for the net debt to comparable EBITDA was at 1.1 times. The dividend of 664 million euros was paid in April, i.e. in the second quarter. If considering this amount in the net debt, leverage would have been 1.6 times. Looking at our debt portfolio and the loan maturity profile, I want to highlight a few things. At the end of the quarter, our gross debt excluding leases totaled 3.8 billion euros. Our maturity profile is very balanced. and there are no large maturities in any single year. In February, we repaid a maturing 750 million euro bond. In 2028, a 500 million euro bond will mature. Bonds are and continue to be our primary source of funding. We continue to have ample liquidity reserves, 6.4 billion euros. with 2.5 billion of liquid funds and 3.9 billion of unrolled committed credit facilities and overdrafts at the end of March 2026. In April 2026, we successfully renewed our revolving credit facility with 2.7 billion euro facility. The syndication was well oversubscribed and a total of 15 banks participated in the facility. This new larger RCF further strengthens our liquidity position. The cost of our 3.8 billion euro loan portfolio is 3.4%, while the interest income that we get for our 2.5 billion euro liquid funds is 2%. The overall objective is to have sufficient liquidity while optimizing the balance between debt and cash to minimize funding costs. Then over to the final sections, the outlook. The outlook section includes guidance regarding our outright portfolio, capital expenditure and taxation. Let's start with the hedges. At the end of the first quarter, the hedge price for the rest of the year was 39 euros and the hedge ratio was 75%. The hedge price for 2027 is 40 euros. Same as last time disclosed, while the hedge ratio increased by 5 percentage points to 60%. Our optimization premium for 2026 is estimated to be between 8 to 10 euros per megawatt hour and the following years between 6 to 8 euros per megawatt hour. Based on announced outages, nuclear output for 2026 is estimated to be below the normal level of 26 terawatt hours. Based on current market information, we estimate that our nuclear volume will be between 23.5 and 24 terawatt hours in 2026. Previously, this close volume was between 24 to 24.5 terawatt hours. Our capital expenditure guidance is unchanged. We have 550 million committed for the year 2026. This includes maintenance, but excludes potential acquisitions. For the period 2026 to 2030, the committed capex is 2 billion euros, of which 750 million is growth. Annual maintenance is expected to be 250 million euros. The guidance for our corporate tax rate also remains unchanged for 2026. We expect the comparable effective income tax rate to be in the range of 18 to 20%. The Finnish government plans to decrease the corporate tax from 20% to 18% from the beginning of 2027. There is, however, no official law in place yet. Preliminary estimate is that this would lower the comparable effective income tax by one percentage point from 2027 onwards. This was all for my presentation, and now we are happy to answer your questions. So with this, Ingela, over to you.

Thank you, Tiina, and thank you, Markus. So with this rather straightforward quarter, we are already now then ready to take your questions. Let's begin the Q&A session. Moderator, please go ahead.

If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad. To enter the queue, if you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key 6 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Harry Wybird from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Hi. Morning, everyone. Thanks for the presentation. So I'm sorry to torture you, but this is going to be a slightly numbers-intensive couple of questions. So the first one is on your achieved pricing. I want to particularly focus on this because The achieved pricing on different courses is going to be different this year because Q1 was very strong. So I wonder if you could bear with me and maybe help me a little bit, walk through what your achieved price might be for the full year and sort of correct me if I'm wrong here. So you're earning about 45 terawatt hours of output for the full year based on the new nuclear guidance. You've already sold 12 terawatt hours of that at 62.5%. If I've done your hedge disclosures right, you're saying you've hedged about 25 terawatt hours at 48, if you include a nine-year optimization premium. And then on the remaining eight terawatt hours, On my forward calculator spreadsheet, I'm looking at about, I thought that 51 achieved price if you include regional premiums and a nine-year-old optimization premium. So you'd basically be looking at an achieved price of about 52 all in, including optimization premiums and regional premiums for the full year, which was a little bit lower than the 54 I think it was in the Barrett consensus. So I'm sorry that that's a very detailed sort of, let's say the numbers, but is there anything that I've done wrong there? Or would you push back on any of that? I'm sure any clients are listening. Feel free to push back to me on Bloomberg. So that's the first question. And the second one, again, I apologize, it's a numbered one, but on my model, and I know everyone has different valuations, but I have to put in around the mid-60s long-term achieved all-in price to sort of get up to kind of 21, 22 euros where your share price is today. If you look at the forwards, I know we don't necessarily believe in long forwards, but for what it's worth, you know, they're probably in the sort of late to mid-50s if you include an 8 or 9-year optimization premium. So basically, on my math, you need to get a 10 to 15-year premium now on top of the forward north pull in your optimization premium guidance. to kind of get into the low 20s. And I wondered if we could just revisit, and I know you've talked in the past about that you could get premiums on data and for PPAs, but I just wanted to revisit that. Do you think getting a 10 to 15 euro premium and then, you know, effectively that being applied to the entire output is really plausible? Sorry for the very long and numbers-heavy questions.

Okay, so two questions maybe I start answering, and Tina, you can then fill in. So, not commenting the actual number, but I just revisit what are the components we give. So, indeed, we try to guide what is the normalized level of production. So, hydropower, we do not know exactly what it will be for the rest of the year, but you can look at normalized years. Nuclear volume we guided a little bit downwards, so you can look at that component. And then the hedge ratio for the rest of the year, 75 percent at 39 euros. So then you do the math on the open position, what you expect there and what would be the optimization premium. So these are the components we are giving. and if there's something I missed, then please fill in. But on the second point, so similar math, so we give the production volumes, and now we have the 60% hedged at 40 euros for next year. So that's the only price guidance we give. And with regards to the forward curve versus our pricing, so we have said that forward curve is one indication and it's a very thin indication of what the forward price would be. So we continue to price every customer contract individually, then reflecting the different characteristics that the profile or different types of energy that the customer needs. So this all will come in then eventually into the achieved power price. And on top of that, the optimization premium as well. So all the customer elements and then the optimization premium. We're obviously not commenting what would be the future achieved price. What I will, though, once again say is that we do expect that the power consumption will increase, driven by different sectors, and new production, full-load production cannot be produced. It cannot be invested in with today's prices, so it will have to command a higher price. But maybe, Tiina, is there something I missed there?

No, I think you covered it very well. So maybe only to comment the first quarter. So, of course, when the spot prices were very high, so in our areas over 80, 85 euros per megawatt hour. So, of course, that meant that we maximized the absolute outcome and EBIT. and therefore the production volume was higher in the first quarter, which in a way increased also the active power price. So the profile of different quarters, of course, we optimize inside the year as well. But the components are, as you said, Markus.

One thing now when I look at my notes on what all have we told you previously. So we did in the investor day, we spoke about the 330 million improvement. that would come on a like-for-like basis from generation in availability and also the improvements in the other businesses that are all within our hands. Then the 40 million improvement from consumer solutions and then as well as improvements in other. So this is perhaps a component that you need to put into the model as well.

Okay, thank you. Maybe just a follow-up, and sorry, such a convoluted, long question for monopolizing everything. Marcus, maybe just in very simple terms, do you still think it's plausible that if you did sign a PPA with a data center operator or an industrial customer that you would be able to achieve a higher price than... you know, the sort of current medium term forwards plus optimization premium. And I think you've sort of alluded in the past that you could. Do you think that's still plausible that you could get a premium above what you're sort of looking at that you might achieve on the forward market and the current optimization premium guidance?

So I'll repeat my earlier remark that... that the forward curve is at best indicative and it's very short term. So when we go into longer tenors, then the question is that what does a customer need in availability? What is the profile that the customers need? What are the characteristics? What type RFNBO guarantees of origin, et cetera? So there are many components. I will not go further than that.

Okay, fair enough. Thank you very much.

The next question comes from Julius Nicholson from Bank of America. Please go ahead. Julius Nicholson, your line is now unmuted. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Ajay Patel from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for the presentation. I guess mine's all around the optimisation last year. Was it higher, lower, the same? I'm just trying to understand what's sort of embedded for the second half of the year for optimisation, given the strong start. And then the other thing is, any drivers that you can just help us with, more high level, on... for this year's optimization versus last? Anything that's maybe declining that we need to just keep in mind when we're thinking about that picture? Thank you.

So on the detailed picture, if Tina, you want to comment that, but regarding the high-level drivers, which are now impacting this year's guidance versus last year and the coming years. So I go back to that. The main part is the physical optimization. And in today's market, we have a lot of flexible capacity, which we can then utilize to support the market when it needs it, when power is in high demand and prices are high, so we can produce. Then it's the grid services that we provide for the PSOs. And the third one is the guarantees of origin. And if we look then going forward, we expect that there will be competition in this space for part of the services from batteries and from electrified heating. However, this then again makes room for new investments in renewables when the power demand grows and customers would contract more capacities. So I do see that these elements are supportive of each other. And what we have today is the long-duration flexibility, which has a different value than short-duration batteries.

And Q1 is optimizations.

Q1 optimization. So usually the first quarter is very, very strong. And what we say that also this year, like the last year, so it was the double digit number. I think what really matters is that what is the volatility, and when we look at the volatility numbers, so compared to full last year, so it increased, particularly in Finland. So in Finland, it was the highest, but also in Sweden, in price area two and three, it increased. So overall... At least the first part of the year looks what comes to the volatility high. Of course, that will depend how the full year continues. But as the renewables are quite a lot in the system, solar coming also to the market, so increases the overall picture.

It is a similar level to last year, sort of in the broadest sense. Is that just generally you're making the expectation as you go through the next three quarters that the optimization achieved in the last nine months of the year versus the first three months is lower year on year? And hence, there's some conservatism there, or is that too optimistic?

Well, I think what we have in general says that further we go to the time span, it's more difficult to estimate what is the volatility. So, therefore, I think we give the more precise guidance to the near term when we also can estimate that what are the hydro reservoirs, there's no situation, how does the market overall demand supply situation look like. So... I would say that it is the forecast and accuracy which will really dominate our guidance in the short term.

Okay. Thank you very much.

The next question comes from James Brand from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi, morning. Thank you for the presentation. I've got three questions, if that's okay. The first one is on the data centers, the day one and scale that you've been involved in helping them. with some of their procedures they need to go through to get data center up and running. I was just wondering whether you could clarify what the rough timelines are for those data centers, and also if you could give a bit more detail exactly what your role is, the things you're doing to help them. First question. Secondly, you mentioned in your comments at the beginning of the presentation that, there have been some concerns in Finland around power availability. Could you give us a bit more detail in terms of kind of what's being said there and what discussions are being held? And is it something that's being considered that new data centers would be required to have renewables built alongside the data center in order to deal with any power issues And then, sorry, those are both quite long, but the third one's relatively simple. For Q1, you mentioned the eight hours of weather-related extra demand. Where does that leave demand growth in Q1X weather? From our numbers, it seems like it leaves it quite flat, but maybe you could clarify that. Thank you very much.

Yeah, I can start with the two latter ones, and partly comment that day one and end scale, and, Tina, if you want to fill in there. But first of all, I think the concerns about Finnish power availability vis-a-vis data centers is something we can observe across the world. So we hear similar discussions in the U.S., continental Europe, as well as Finland. So people are quite focused on that. Well, that's a new project. What does that mean? And in data centers – the numbers often are quite high that are being published and spoken about. And then in reality, the ramp-ups are much more linear and gradual. There is discussion about how are different energy users carrying their responsibility for new supply. Our answer to that whole discussion is that when we look across the sectors, and I've given several interviews today on the same topic, We see the biggest demand in our customer pipeline coming from steel, aluminum, hydrogen, hydrogen derivatives and data centers are then a part of it but not the biggest part. They are however coming faster and more linearly. Then our answer to the power availability is that if there is customer interest in additional capacity, we as Fortum we are preparing for that so we have the renewable pipeline we have a flexibility pipeline and if there is customer willingness to pay for new additional capacity then we can do that but primarily we are interested in selling from our existing portfolio obviously and cater for the customer needs right away. But on the public side, we are bringing facts to the table on the good infrastructure and good availability for all sectors of power as well. Then for the third question, the weather-related, so indeed that is the case. The increase was more on the private side and that we can all experience in our homes here. So it was really cold, minus 15 to minus 20 degrees throughout January and February, which leads to increased heating and increased use of electricity. So weather adjusted quite modest growth. So industrial demand did not change materially. And then the day one and end scale involvement, this is reflecting our like gradual development of the whole industrial site availability. So initially our idea has been to catalyze new demand and bring new sites, bring new infrastructure to attract new customers to our areas. And this is what we have done with these sites. So these have been developed in good cooperation with the municipalities to facilitate new investments. Then whether there would be other involvement or PPAs that we would then, if they are material, we will announce it separately, and otherwise you will see the results in our hedge ratios and hedge prices over time. Anything more on that?

No, I think it is, as you said, and if we look at the countries, so particularly I think the demand was kind of the higher side in Finland and Norway, and maybe in Sweden more kind of a staple or even flatter or decreasing. So, of course, countries also differ slightly, but overall picture, as you said.

Great. Thank you very much. Super helpful.

The next question comes from Arjun Baletsky from SEB. Please go ahead.

Yes, hi, and two questions from my side. So the first one is just continuing on this site development agreements, what you have done with day one and end scale. Could you maybe talk about potential monetary impact? So is it anyhow significant? And secondly, is there any commitment to do then eventually PPA with you as those data centers are completed. And then the second question that I had was related actually to some local press coverage, what we have seen around the Fennovoima site and possible new nuclear build-out there. Could you maybe provide some comments on this topic, so what you actually hear and see happening on that front? Thank you.

Yes, so if I start with the Pyhäjoki question, so yes, we have seen this speculation, and I will not comment on other companies' projects, but this is a real estate developer that I think was mentioned in connection with this. Our own focus is in our new build feasibility study, which we are doing with EDF and Westinghouse and G Hitachi, both for Finland and Sweden. And in Finland, our focus would be on the Lovisa site. And right now on the lifetime extensions of Lovisa, where we are then taking investment by investment. And we bought the land area in Lovisa for developing potential future energy intensive facilities industry site development and potentially also even for new nuclear, but obviously no decisions on this front, but enabling this possibility. Then regarding the site development, so if there were material impacts financially, then we would announce that separately. and then on the individual customer PPAs. So if they're material, we will announce them, and otherwise you will see the impacts then in our hedge ratios and prices over time.

Maybe just a quick follow-up relating to site development. At the investor day, you showed this number of 5 gigawatts of potential capacity could be developed on your sites. How much is actually left for new projects at this stage? Because you have been doing agreements like N-scale and Day One and some other projects already.

Yeah, so we have certain developments going on, for example, in INCO, but the majority of this 5 gigawatts is still in our control and under development. And if there is some hold on the land, then that is not in all cases even definitive. So I would say most of this 5 gigawatts is available for customer development. And good to say that in different stages, obviously. So we are in different stages of the grid connections and the land agreements and so on. So then we will develop these to the final stages depending on potential customer demand.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from Ingo Becker from Kepler Shoebrew. Please go ahead.

Yes, thank you very much. Good morning. I have a question on your optimization premium as well. Apparently, we have a new energy crisis which induced quite a lot of price impact on Europe and also, I guess, contributed to at least higher volatility in the Nordic market. Still, you haven't changed your optimization premium guidance method, the higher range for this year, nor perhaps the one for next year. Do you see any impact from the crisis effects yet, and how would you think will that perhaps change during the remainder of the year, and if you can, is or not any of those effects, are they included in your optimization guidance for this year and next, or would it perhaps come on top? Thank you very much.

Thank you. So indeed, the Middle East crisis and other geopolitical crises are impacting customer demand, customer sentiment, both on consumer side and industrial side. So I would say that there are risks out there that are hard to evaluate at the moment, but definitely this is not something that's positive for a long-term development. We see that the crisis has had a clearly increasing impact on gas prices and coal prices, obviously oil prices as well. So in the times when the price signal comes from the continent to the Nordics, then it will have a positive impact on Nordic prices. Good to remember now that in the current situation, the Nordics as a whole are exporting energy on an annual basis to the continent, about 40 terawatt hours. So most of the time, the power flow is going from the Nordics to the continent. Then for the optimization premium, so the biggest element in the volatility is the high penetration of renewables in the Nordics. So this is causing the price volatility and we analyze, of course, the impacts, all the impacts that are impacting volatility and our optimization premium. And we have held based on our analysis, the guidance for this year and the coming years at the current level. So the really biggest elements that are impacting it is the future. capacity build-out, which will be mostly renewables in the short term, that will increase volatility. And on the other hand, the amount of batteries and electrified heating, which are then able to absorb volatility. So these two factors that offset each other are the big elements impacting volatility in the midterm.

All right. Thank you very much.

The next question comes from Louis Bouchard from AutoBHF. Please go ahead.

Yes, hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Maybe... Going a little bit into the framework, regulatory framework, regarding the potential impact of the revision of the EU ETS, how do you assess it? And so, how do you see the potential adjustment to the industrial policy, like the Industrial Accelerator Act? Is it something that you consider could have meaningful impact into your projection in terms of future growth demand for the electricity industry? And then regarding the potential taxation for the data center that has been an ongoing discussion and on which we still have some detail, I think, that should be discussed. Do you think that it is something that could have some impact going forward on the final demand that could be expected from a data center, or is it something that could be completely neutral for your forecast in this way? Thank you.

Okay, so maybe, Tina, if you take the taxation and how has that impacted our discussions with data centers. But the first one, so regarding the discussion around energy market design and ETS, so also in my role as the chair of Euroelectric, we have scanned all of the member countries in Euroelectric, which comprises the whole of EU plus more. And there is very strong support for the energy market design. So having a functioning market mechanism which decides then which assets are dispatched and when, there's very strong support for that. So I don't see wavering there despite calls for changing that, but that is coming from distressed industries, which we respect a lot. Then on ETS, Similarly, on EU level and on national level, there is some support for ETS, because that is really in the core of EU's climate policy. And if we think about what is the crisis we are right now seeing, it's a fossil fuel crisis. So the countries that are faring well now are the ones who have actually invested in clean production and clean energy. So homegrown clean energy is the solution for dependency and fossil fuel related risks. So the importance of ETS is how to recognize simultaneously the distress that many energy intensive companies and industries are facing that has to be addressed by EU and on national level. And the answer that EU for example is is providing for that is that national governments can use the tools that they have so they have free allowances on ETS how to use the ETS revenues if they want and can support certain industries selectively so this is the discussion that I see happening right now crisis is recognized there certainly are ways that the national governments can address this and decide how they want to use, and that EU would facilitate also them using it. And with that taxation, do you want to comment?

All right, yes. So the electricity tax for data centers, so there will be a change from July onwards, In Finland, so previously data centers have belonged to the kind of the lower tax category, so 0.5 euro per megawatt hour electricity tax. And now they will move to the normal tax, so 22.4 euros per megawatt hour electricity. At the same time, there is a discussion whether there could be some kind of investment support, supporting the data centers, but this is open, no decision yet. I think what is important for the data centers is predictable environment so that they know when they do the investment calculations and investment decisions that what is the future. And I think this is the big issue to know that what are the circumstances, not only the tax, but also the other issues. I would say that still, whatever the tax rate is in Finland, so the Power is very competitive in general, if we compare, for example, the Central Europe or other markets. But predictability, that is the topic, and that's what the data centers also are looking for.

Thank you very much.

The next question comes from Rob Pullane from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Rob Pulley, and your line is now unmuted. Please go ahead.

Yeah, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Two, if I may. Firstly, a follow-up on the optimization topic. And I was wondering what we should infer from the use of the adjective strong. in the strong double digit. Does that mean to say teens or sub-teens? That would be interesting. And secondly, given lots of other things that are covered, Kev, I may ask, again, your balance sheet, of course, looks under-leathered versus your max gearing. And I was wondering if there was any update on what the use of capital allocation could be throughout the year and beyond. Thank you.

Okay, I can start with the balance sheet, and Tina, if you want to comment on the optimization premium. So indeed, after first quarter, the leverage was at 1.1 times, and then we paid the dividend after that, so then that increases our leverage to the same level as it was in the end of the year. So we're about one notch below what we have said to be the max level. This gives us the possibility to help our customers with additional capacity if they need that. So we are in a position to invest. We are also in a position to look at acquisitions. examples from Nieto and Historiadi, ABO Energy, and EnerSense acquisitions on renewables, Antelia and Orange Energia on the consumer solution side. So consumer solution, district heating, cooling, renewables are interesting for us. Also, like we have said before, if nuclear or hydropower would be on the market, we would constructively look at that as well. And then we have the dividend policy, so 60 to 90 percent of our comparable earnings, net profit, this we dividend, pay as a dividend. At the higher end, when the balance sheet is strong, an investment pipeline is thinner, and if we have large investments or levered balance sheet, then we can use the lower end of the range. But these are the three areas where we can use the balance sheet capacity.

All right, and then for the optimization premium and the first quarter. So during the first quarter, the spot prices were very high. So in our areas, 85 euros per megawatt hour. So that led that we also run a lot of hydro because there was a demand. And of course, the prices were high. So I would say that overall, we optimized the whole result, not only the optimization premium. So that is the one element. So, therefore, I would say that the optimization premium, double digits, very strong. But the overall absolute result was, of course, always in the focus.

Thank you. The next question comes from Julius Nicholson from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hi there. I hope you can hear me now.

Yes.

Perfect. Apologies for earlier. I don't know what went wrong there. Two questions for me on the data centers. First one, like a follow-up on the timeline. I mean, there have been a lot of announcements over the last few weeks and months that different players, especially like hyperscalers, want to build new data centers. Could you just maybe give us like a generic example of that? that the data center would take an FID in 2026 and start construction on a new project. How long would you expect that to take until it's basically operational and when would you expect them to sign a PPA? Then the second one is a quick one. There was an article today in Finnish press saying that Microsoft had already signed the first or the first full 200 megawatt of its data centers. Just to confirm, is that the 10 that we were talking about at the last results call where you didn't participate or is that even more? And again, just to confirm, you didn't participate in that one. Thank you.

okay so if I start with the with the timeline so what we see in our total customer portfolio is that we foresee that customers are making FIDs this year and next year this is kind of the expectation from the announced projects in various sectors and if these FIDs take place then the demand and this is not data centers only this is across across the board then this would lead to demand increase roughly in 2029 2030 so of course we know depending on on project it takes two years to four years to build and and have the capacity up and running in whichever business then for data centers specifically uh i referred earlier to that the headline numbers can be very big and then the build up actually is gradual So let's say if there's a data center where capacity is 100 or 200 megawatts, and this is very anecdotal, but what we see happening is that then these are built in the tens of megawatts increments, depending on the customer demand. So the demand ramp up is gradual. Then if you would have an aluminum plant or steel plant, then it's more binary. When you start, then after the startup curve, you go for full capacity. So if these announcements happen, then we will see more lumpy demand happening. Then for any customer-related transactions, so if we have material transactions, then we would be announcing those, and otherwise you will see our customer contracts reflected in our hedge ratio and hedge prices and we are moving towards our target on the 10-year rolling hedging so you have seen historically the increases and we continue to to focus on that

Okay, very clear. Maybe just a quick follow-up. If you say demand will increase 29, 20, 30, is it then fair to assume that usually players will sign PPAs a year before that, before they will actually start needing electricity?

So this varies. It's a very good question. So this varies business by business, again empirically. But if I try to... kind of put some frame around it. So if you are a startup business in steel or aluminum or hydrogen-related products, If your business is to forward sell your end production, then these customers typically would have an interest to lock in the input components before they take the financial decision. So this is the type of discussion we are having with certain sectors. So for the bankability of a project, certain type of customers need visibility on both their sales and their inputs. Then for the data center customers, let's say hyperscalers, they of course have the funding to build their build out and they are not dependent on locking in electricity first. So they can go into, they can go to production, they can be exposed to short term market prices as well. This is a very crude generalization, but just giving the kind of two examples of different type of customers.

Very clear. Thank you so much.

The next question comes from Wanda Surwinowska from UBS. Please go ahead.

Hi. Two questions for me. The first one, Mark, you referred to material impact a few times when you were talking about PPAs. Can you disclose what is the exact definition of material impact? Because I remember you signed a couple of PPAs in the past with an industrial company. customer, but there was never price attached. I'm just wondering at what threshold or what is the criteria to basically give us more details once PPA is signed? And the second question is on the site development. Are you expecting an EBIT contribution from helping data centers or hyperscalers to develop the site? I mean, apart from the PPA, what is the magnitude of the EBIT or EPS impacts from helping to develop the site. Thank you.

Yep. So, Tina, if you want to comment on how do we think about materiality overall in our communication. And then on the site development. So, historically, like I said, we have been developing sites so that it has been done to attract new demand So it has been land development and then some premiums over the land values. In the long run, what is our interest is that of course our business is to produce electricity. So in the long run, we are looking at that, how can we connect things that are important for us into the site development. And that depends then on the competitive situation around the site development. And Tina, if you want to comment on the materiality.

Sure. So basically, of course, we will include all the PPAs for our hedge ratio, hedge price, and then, of course, we have this longer-term hedge ratio, which also covers the next 10 years. In addition, of course, based on the stock exchange rules, so if there is a really material contract, so we need to provide more information so that can be assessed what kind of financial impact it could have to us. So typically those relate to the size of the deal or length of the deal somehow where you and – and can evaluate the impact. But that is also, of course, case by case.

Thank you. If I can just add a very, very quick follow-up. On the site development and the PPAs, do you bundle them always? Or what is the ratio of the site development with a bundled PPA with unbundled? So we can understand, because I don't expect you to develop sites at a zero rate. EVIC contribution in the long term if you don't bundle it with a PPA at some stage? Or am I missing something?

Yeah, depending on the competitive situation. So, of course, our business is to produce electricity and sell that to our customers. So that is what... in the long run what what we are targeting so that site development will bring us additional business and then how that materializes depends on the on the competitive situation in in land development and grid access development thank you the next question comes from ingo becker from kepler shubru please go ahead

Yeah, thank you for taking my second question. Can I just get your feedback on an observation within the Nordic system? What we're seeing since quite a while, actually, is that when certain prices are higher, actually, the EPATs go down and vice versa. So the seemingly realizable or attainable price, what you call the blended market price, isn't really moving that much. Would you share that observation? And related to that, are your off-takers in the different markets, your industrial counterparties signing contracts with you, which you then include in your hedge ratio and your hedge price going forward, do they behave in a similar way or are they looking at different curves? Thank you very much.

I'll leave it to Tina to comment on the kind of short moments if you have a view on that. But it's a good question. So I take the high-level view that we don't take price area risk. So when we do both our hedging and our PPAs, then we do it by price area. So we either produce or we purchase the electricity that we sell in the same price area. We do not take a basis risk. And then what you are referring to, I cannot really comment that, but that's then a shorter movement, and that's then unrelated to the hedging and PPAs that we do.

What comes to the eBuds? So I think it really depends on the demand-supply situation and then also the transmission or capacity between the different eBuds. different areas or whether there are outages of the lines which might impact. But, for example, Q1, so system price was 90 euros, and in Finland, actually, the prices were higher. So nearly 93 euros, whereas in price area 2 and 3, they were 86 and 66, so quite big differences. But I think it tells that there are still bottlenecks. bottlenecks between the different areas which make this situation. Situation change, and of course, Finland being in the kind of the last island, so the volatility here is seen more than in the other markets. Now the Aurora Line, so that has partly balanced the prices in Sweden, one and two, and the Finnish area.

Okay, thank you.

As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Pierre-Alexander Remondink from Alpha Value. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I'm sorry to come back on this topic, but I'm still struggling to understand I understand your outshift price at the end of 2025, you indicated that around 75% of volumes were hedged at 41 euros per megawatt hour. And now you're reporting an outshift price of more than 62 euros. So, clearly elevated that even in 2023, you achieved a bit more than 63 euros for the full year. So, if we do a simple math, that would imply realized prices of above 120 euros per megawatt hour on the remaining 25% of unit volume, right? But I know that the picture is a bit more complex and largely reflects the optimization premium, but I find it difficult to fully bridge the magnitude of this gap. And especially as I guess, as Q1 was more heavily hedged at the beginning of the year than the following quarter. So if you could try to give us an indication of the achieved prices potential on the UNH portion, this might be very helpful. Many thanks.

Yeah, so I can address that. So it's a good question. How do we get from our hedge prices to the achieved price? So if we start with that, we have the hedges in place. That includes both the exchange hedges and the PPAs, which are most of the hedging, actually. Then for the what was 25% in the end of last year for this year as the open position. So we got the price for that and we had good hydro volumes. So we had good volumes in Q1. And then the optimization premium, when we look at the physical optimization, that's what we got compared to the average spot also. So we also time our production and then we get the grid services and the guarantees of origin, and that goes then for all of our volumes. So the double-digit optimization premium, that's not only for the open position, but for the totality that we have produced and sold in the first quarter. But these are the three elements, and that's how we get to that. 62 and a half euros for the first quarter.

Thank you.

There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers.

Thank you, moderator, and thank you all for your questions. We're really happy that we had this high activity here at the webcast. Thank you all for your participation here today, and we wish you all a very nice rest of the day. And to everyone in the Nordics, have a very nice vappu as well.

Thank you. Happy vappu.

Thank you. Happy vappu.