immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Wasserversorger

  • WWZ expands district heating business

    WWZ expands district heating business

    The WWZ Group is observing rising demand for district heating and cooling. The corresponding business area increased its sales by 15 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2023, the Zug-based energy, telecoms and water supplier informs in a statement. In the half year under review, the group was able to connect further properties to its Circulago and Ennetsee energy networks.

    In the future, WWZ plans to further expand this promising business area. A feasibility study for a heating network has already been carried out in Steinhausen, and the group is currently working on a feasibility study with the municipality of Baar. Investments in district heating and district cooling did “temporarily lead to higher operating costs, but the investments will pay off in the medium term with stable cash flows”, writes WWZ.

    In the first half of 2023, the expansion of the district heating and district cooling business also increased the company’s operating costs by almost 4 per cent. The operating result nevertheless increased by 27 per cent to CHF 13.6 million. The background to this is a year-on-year increase of 24 percent to 166.5 million Swiss francs in net revenues from deliveries and services. At 15.7 million Swiss francs, net profit was 8.4 million Swiss francs higher than in the first half of 2022.

  • WWZ Group defies the pandemic

    WWZ Group defies the pandemic

    According to a statement from the WWZ Group , the Zug-based energy, telecommunications and water supplier generated total net sales of CHF 227.6 million in the 2020 financial year. In a year-on-year comparison, this corresponds to a marginal decrease of 0.3 percent.

    "Despite the corona pandemic, WWZ was largely able to achieve its goals," CEO Andreas Widmer is quoted as saying in the press release. "Although energy sales fell as a result of the lockdown and the warm weather, we were still able to keep net sales at the previous year's level." In addition, the group has pushed ahead with "expanding our strategic growth areas", explains Widmer.

    The CEO particularly points out the area of district heating. In the year under review, the group's flagship project, Circulago, put the first district headquarters into operation. Circulago uses the energy of the Zug lake water to generate heat and cold.

    In the year under review, WWZ invested a total of 87.0 million francs in maintaining the infrastructure and expanding district heating and telecommunications networks. As a result of these high investments and increased depreciation, the operating result at EBIT level fell by 10.8 percent year-on-year, explains WWZ. Specifically, an operating result of 37.4 million francs was achieved. At 39.0 million francs, consolidated profit was 19.1 percent lower than in the previous year.

    For the current year, the group assumes that investments, operating costs and depreciation will remain high. "The transition from fossil natural gas to renewable district heating and the establishment of further growth areas will temporarily burden the income statement," explains WWZ CFO Andreas Ronchetti Salomon. However, the group is well equipped to continue its strategic development “even under difficult conditions”.

  • Canton Uri increases stake in EWA-energieUri

    Canton Uri increases stake in EWA-energieUri

    As part of its energy strategy, the canton of Uri is aiming for a long-term majority stake in EWA-energieUri , inform the canton, EWA-energieUri and Centralschweizische Kraftwerke AG ( CWK ) in a joint message . In the coming years, the canton's participation in the energy and water supplier is to be expanded from the current 29 to 40 percent. To this end, the canton of Uri wants to take over a stake from CKW.

    A corresponding agreement has already been signed by the three partners, the message goes on to say. It regulates the acquisition of further shares by the canton in the course of awarding water rights concessions.

    Specifically, the canton of Uri is initially to receive a further 5 percent of the shares in EWA-energieUri when the Lucendro shares in Uri are awarded. The license is due to be renewed in 2024. The canton of Uri will transfer its shares in the Lucendro power plant to EWA-energieUri and in return will receive shares in the Uri energy supplier. The allocation of the shares from the Ritom, Wassen and Amsteg power plants to EWA-energieUri is intended to bring in a further 6 percent of the Uri energy supplier for the canton. The shares are assigned to the canton by CWK.