Rwe Ag Ord S/Adr

Thank you, George, and good afternoon from Essen. And to investors and analysts, you know, I know it's a busy day for you, so special thanks for joining the RWE Q1 investor and analyst conference call today. Our CFO, Michael Muller, will guide you through our key highlights and financial performance of the first quarter and the outlook for the current year. And with that, let me hand over to Michael.

Yeah, thanks, Thomas, and also good afternoon to all of you from my side. RWE had a solid start into 2025. Adjusted EBITDA stood at 1.3 billion euros and adjusted net income at 500 million euros, despite weak wind conditions in the first quarter. We confirmed the guidance for the full year we presented in March, which already reflected the weak wind conditions until then. Our 1.5 billion share buyback program is making good progress and the first 500 million euro tranche will be completed by the end of the month. Shortly thereafter, we will start the second tranche. The full program will be completed by May 2026 as planned. We are also well underway with our offshore portfolio optimization. We successfully sold down 49% equity stake in our 1.6 gigawatt North Sea cluster and our 1.1 gigawatt Thor offshore project at an attractive valuation. The agreed purchase price is approximately 1.4 billion euros as of closing. We are making good progress and expect closing by the end of Q2 2025. The transaction significantly reduces our share in the project net cash investments by approximately 4 billion euros. Let's now take a closer look at the construction program. Our offshore wind projects under construction are all well underway. The 1.4 gigawatt project SOFIA in the UK is on track to be commissioned in 2026. As we speak, 49 of the 100 foundations and 12 turbines have already been installed. We expect first power in the second half of this year, and the project will have a 15-year inflation-linked CFD. In Denmark, we have just started offshore construction at our 1.1 gigawatt project Thor. Five out of 72 monopiles have been installed and all offshore, onshore and supply chain works are on schedule. For this project, we will close the PPA ahead of COD in 2027. Our 1.6 North Sea cluster project in the German North Sea will be commissioned in the year 2027 and 2029. All supplier contracts have been signed and first foundations have been offloaded at our marshalling port in Eemshaven. The start of installation is scheduled for this summer. As we speak, preparation for the offshore works is ongoing. For this project, we'll also sign PPAs ahead of COD, and we have already contracted the first 400 megawatts. With our onshore wind and solar business, we have commissioned 500 megawatts in the first quarter of 2025. More than 95% of the offtake of the commissioned assets and of our projects under construction is secured. In the US, we have largely mitigated supply chain risk of our projects under construction. Our tariff risk is not material, and we do not have economic risks from federal permitting. In Europe and Australia, we are also forging ahead with 90 projects under construction in nine markets. In 2025, we have secured attractive off-takes for further 400 megawatts in CFD auctions across various European markets. In our flexible generation segment, we have fully commissioned one of the largest battery storage systems in Germany with a total capacity of 220 megawatts. The system is dispatched and optimized in the wholesale market and contributes towards stabilizing the electricity grid through balancing energy markets. Another 1.4 gigawatt of standalone batteries in Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands are under construction on time and on budget. The new German government wants to push ahead to incentivize the build-out of new gas plants. We are ready to construct at least three gigawatts if the conditions are right. We will do so at existing sites. And we have already secured the supply chain, including turbine slots, for 2.4 gigawatts. All necessary permit applications have been kicked off Let's now take a closer look at Q1 2025 financials. Despite the weak wind conditions in Europe, we have achieved solid earnings. In offshore wind, adjusted EBITDA was €380 million. Earnings were below last year due to wind conditions and lower hedge prices. Compared to the first quarter of last year, our offshore wind generation volume was down 33% due to lower wind speeds across our UK and German offshore wind portfolios. Onshore wind and solar recorded an EBITDA of €496 million. In the US, we benefited from significant capacity additions and higher hedge prices compared to last year. Our U.S. capacity amounted to 11.2 gigawatts at the end of Q1 this year, compared to 9.3 gigawatts a year earlier. The earnings increase in the U.S. was partially offset by weak wind conditions in Europe and lower hedge prices in Europe. Adjusted EBITDA of the flexible generation segment was 376 million euros. As expected, we have seen lower earnings in line with normalized prices. Our supply and trading business had a weak start into 2025. The Q1 result stood at 15 million euros, driven by a lower trading performance. Other consolidation was 400 million euros. In total, adjusted EBITDA came out at 1.3 billion euros. The year-on-year adjusted financial results improved due to an increase of capitalized interest during construction. For adjusted tax, we applied the general tax rate of 20% for the RWE Group. Adjusted net income stood at 500 million euros, resulting in an adjusted earning per share of 0.7 euros. The adjusted operating cash flow was minus 1.15 billion euros at the end of Q1, driven by seasonal effects in operating working capital, as well as changes in provisions and non-cash items. Changes in operating working capital were marked by the purchase of CO2 certificate rights in Q1, partially compensated by a decrease in inventories of gas and storage. Changes in provision and other non-cash items were driven by seasonal effects in the utilization of provisions. It also includes the cash flow of all phasal technologies. Net debt increased to 15.9 billion euros due to investments and seasonal effects in our adjusted operating cash flow. In total, we invested 2.7 billion euros net in the growth of our offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar business. Other changes in net financial debt amounted to 1 billion euros driven by timing effects from hedging and trading activities. We expect net debt at the end of the year to be lower than at Q1. We assume that that will be slightly below our three times leverage target. For 2025, we confirm the outlook. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between 4.5 5.5 and 5.15 billion euros. Adjusted net income will range from 1.3 to 1.8 billion euros and adjusted earnings per share between 1.8 and 2.5 euros. The dividend target is 1.2 euros per share for this year. And with that, let me hand back to Thomas.

Thank you, Michael. We now start the Q&A session. Operator, please begin.