Enel Distribuição Ceará posts solid results, increases investments in 2017 to improve service quality

MAIN FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (millions of Brazilian reais)

Carlo Zorzoli, Enel’s Country Manager for Brazil, said: “In 2017, we improved our financial performance, despite the country’s economic slowdown. Enel Distribuição Ceará is a benchmark for service quality in the Brazilian distribution sector and we will continue to work relentlessly to further improve the company’s grid. We will indeed continue to focus our investments on the quality of our service, boosting the capacity of our distribution network while also connecting new clients in the state of Ceará.”

Fortaleza, February 27^th, 2018 – Today Enel Distribuição Ceará’s Board of Directors published the company’s financial results for 2017.

• Revenues increased mainly due to the tariff adjustment applied in April 2017 (+0.15%), as well as to the higher recognition of regulatory credits[1] resulting from higher electricity purchase costs in 2017 and from higher hydrological risk (generation deficit in the country), to be included in the 2018 tariff adjustment. 
• The increase in revenues was partially offset by a 1.3% decrease in energy sales and transport volume, due to the 6.5% decrease in energy sales volume in the regulated market, as a result of the State's economic slowdown,
• EBITDA up mainly due to higher revenues and lower provisions for bad debt.
• Partially offset by higher costs of equipment and services due to the increase in operation and maintenance activities resulting from the implementation of the company’s service quality plan.
• EBIT up mainly in line with EBITDA.
• Partially offset by higher depreciation and amortisation charges, as a result of the increase in the asset base originating from investment in the last years.
• Net income increased mainly in line with the increase in EBITDA.
• Net financial debt up as a result of lower cash flow due to higher investments and operational costs and partially offset by lower interest rate and inflation in the country.
• Capex up mainly due to the connection of new customers as well as the modernisation and digitisation of the distribution network, which led to the installation of remote-controlled network automation systems.

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Energy sales and transport volumes dropped due to decrease in the volume of energy sales in the regulated market, as a result of the State's economic slowdown.
• Partially offset by a 37.9% increase in the volume of energy transport in the free market, as a result of increasing numbers of customers switching to the free from the regulated market.
• System Average Interruption Duration (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency (SAIFI) in 2017 performed better than the indexes level required by Brazilian  regulator Aneel.
   

[1] Order 4,621 enacted by Brazilian regulator ANEEL in November 2014, which allows distribution companies to record in their financial results non-manageable costs that are higher or lower than those recognised in the current tariff