Holding & Services Segment

Business development in the Holding & Services Segment

At EUR 116.0 million, sales revenues in the Holding & Services Segment in the reporting period were 8.6% above the previous year's level of EUR 106.8 million. This development was mainly attributable to higher sales revenues in the technical services sector. The operating result of the Holding & Services Segment fell from EUR 7.4 million in the same period of the previous year to EUR 3.7 million in the first half of 2019/2020, primarily due to the property sales included in the EBIT of the previous year. Apart from this one-off special effect, the operating result of the Holding & Services Segment developed slightly positively in the reporting period.

Fibre-optic expansion is the prerequisite for Upper Austria as a business location

Length of fibre-optic network

in km

The necessity of speed-of-light broadband internet for Upper Austria as a business location was clearly demonstrated at the end of the reporting period in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Intensified home office activities of Upper Austrian employees and business owners, as well as the increased use of entertainment services, resulted in a massive additional load on the data network, which was successfully cushioned by means of fibre-optic technology. This once again confirmed Energie AG's strategy, which has been to rely on future-proof fibre-optic technology for two decades already. At the end of the reporting period, the Group's own fibre-optic network comprised around 6,385 km (previous year: 5,750 km).

In the first half of the 2019/2020 fiscal year, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) expansion progressed successfully, especially in the context of the subsidised projects. By the end of the reporting period, more than 29,000 households in 190 municipalities had access to the FIBRE product portfolio of the Energie AG Group. In addition, Energie AG Oberösterreich Telekom GmbH (Telekom GmbH) is involved in activities in the wholesale sector for other providers. There is an increased demand here for fibre-optic connections for mobile communications facilities.

Another area of Telekom GmbH's business activity is providing electricity metering services for Netz OÖ. The mass roll-out for smart metering devices (IME-VO Amendment 2017) was completed on schedule in the reporting period. By 31 March 2020, 646,000 AMIS meters had been installed; this is equivalent to 98.25% of all electricity meters in the Netz OÖ supply area, in full compliance with the legal requirements.