Austrian renewable energy firm Verbund has reported a 29% drop in EBITA for the first nine months of 2026, saying that ‘historically low’ water supply impacted its hydropower operations.
Revenue at the business fell by 5.4% to €5.56 billion for the nine-month period.
Hydropower decline
As Verbund noted, hydropower generation declined by a fifth (20.2%) compared with the same period in 2025, falling by 4,047GWh to 15,984GWh. The hydro coefficient for run-of-river power plants stood at 0.61, compared with 0.79 a year earlier and a long-term average that was 39 percentage points higher.
It also cited a reduction in the average sales price achieved for its own hydropower generation, which fell by €33.80 per MWh to €79.70 per MWh.
By contrast, generation from wind and photovoltaic installations increased by 70GWh to 1,622GWh, supported by new facilities entering operations. This was achieved despite generation conditions that fell ‘below expectations’, with the wind and solar generation coefficient at 0.80, compared with a planned value of 1.00.
Overall, total electricity generation from Verbena’s company-owned facilities declined by 17.6% year on year.
‘Significant drop in earnings’
It said that lower generation and sales prices led to a ‘significant drop in earnings’ in its Hydro segment, while the earnings contribution from its New Renewables segment ‘also fell short of the prior-year level due to weaker sales prices, despite larger volumes of electricity being generated in this segment’. Its Grid segment, meanwhile, registered a ‘slight decline’.
These declines were partially offset by higher earnings from its Sales segment, supported by its end-customer business and positive measurement effects, and from All Other Segments.
Following its nine-month performance, the Austrian firm has revised its full-year 2026 guidance, forecasting EBITDA of approximately €2.12 billion. The updated forecast takes account of ‘below-average water supply’ in October, it noted, while assuming average generation from hydropower, wind and solar during November and December. Read more here.
