Results ‘above all expectations’ as Prysmian reports best year ever

Italian cabling giant Prysmian Group has reported that 2022 was its best year ever in terms of financial results as its profits and cash generation had grown by over 50 per cent.

For 2022, Prysmian’s adjusted EBITDA amounted to €1,488 million, representing a +52.5 per cent growth compared to 2021, while group net profit soared to €504 million, a +63.4 per cent increase.

Adjusted EBITDA of the Projects segment grew to €243 million, a 15.9 per cent rise in comparison to €210 million in 2021. The projects acquired in 2022 are said to be more profitable than those awarded in the 2018-2019 period.

Group sales rose to €16,067 million, with a +14.4 per cent organic change. All the businesses exposed to secular energy transition, electrification and digitalization trends reported the best results, Prysmian said. The Projects segment reported the highest organic growth with +30.3 per cent, said to be due to submarine energy systems, followed by the Energy segment at +12.3 per cent and Telecom at +10.9 per cent.

Operating income amounted to €849 million, compared to €572 million reported in 2021.

“Technology innovation, an efficient and effective supply chain and a customer-centric focus allowed us to fully seize the opportunities offered by the current energy transition, electrification and digitalisation trends, enabling us to report record results that exceeded all our expectations,” said Prysmian’s CEO Valerio Battista.

“The positive start to 2023 confirms the competitive positioning achieved and enables us to set the goal for 2023 of consolidating our 2022 record performance.”

Last year, Prysmian acquired new projects for an amount of about €3.4 billion, bringing the total of its order book to €6.6 billion in December. The €1.8 billion IJmuiden project secured this March increased the total backlog to €8.4 billion.

According to the company, the Submarine Power Cable and System business recorded a high operating level, supported by the excellent execution of projects in the order book. The key projects underway were the Crete-Attica interconnection in Greece, the Viking Link between Denmark and Great Britain, two offshore wind projects in Turkey, and offshore wind projects in France and the U.S.

Speaking about emissions reductions, Prysmian reported that its Scope 1 and Scope 2, market-based, CO2 emissions were down -24 per cent in 2022 compared to the 2019 baseline, while the Scope 3 emissions were down -7.5 per cent. The company’s total recycled waste rose to 70.8 per cent.

For the full year 2023, the Italian cabling giant expects results to grow compared to the previous year, thanks to the growing order book, solid execution, and the full use of the submarine cable business’s capacity.

The CAPEX plan approved for the 2023-2025 period calls for investments up to about €500 million a year referring mainly to production capacity adjustments and the new submarine cable plant at Brayton Point, Massachusetts, a new cable-laying vessel, and technology innovation.

Given the considerations, the company hopes to achieve an adjusted EBITDA in the range of €1,375-1,525 million and to generate a cash flow in the range of €450-550 million. The forecasts assume, for the upper part of the range, an essentially stable construction market, and for the lower part a rapid deterioration, particularly in the U.S., where the current inflationary and pricing dynamics provide for considerable profit opportunities.

“The solidity of our financial structure allows us to keep a balanced position while sustaining the significant investments planned for the coming three years to further strengthen our positioning and our ambition to be a global benchmark for energy transition, electrification and digitalisation,” Battista concluded.