BayWa expects significant growth in renewables unit in 2021

German diversified group BayWa AG (ETR:BYW6) has proven resilient in the coronavirus crisis, posting last week a 14.2% year-on-year rise in 2020 earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), with all segments contributing to growth.

At the renewable energies business, EBIT increased 9.8% to EUR 110.9 million (USD 130.8m), while revenues rose 26.6% to EUR 2.5 billion, driven by the project business and solar trading. Revenues and EBIT are expected to show further significant growth in 2021. The current year will be the first to include revenues from an independent power producer (IPP) business as BayWa plans to independently operate some 600 MW of solar and wind farms by the year's end.

In 2020, the company sold wind and solar power parks totalling 667 MW, with the share of turnkey projects moving up to 94% from 37% in 2019, when projects output was 911.6 MW. Photovoltaic (PV) components trading again experienced double-digit growth to over 1 GW, the company said.

"The global expansion of renewable energies is a megatrend that continues unabated," commented chief executive Klaus Josef. "Renewable Energies will continue to be a pillar of our success in the current financial year," the CEO said. The renewables business has a project pipeline for 2021 of 1.1 GW .

The group's total EBIT in 2020 reached EUR 215.2 million. Revenues edged up 0.6% to EUR 17.2 billion.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.179)

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