Holding & Services Segment

Business development in the Holding & Services Segment

Sales revenues in the Holding & Services Segment in the reporting period were EUR 301.3 million; this is equivalent to a rise of 7.2% compared with the previous year (EUR 281.0 million). The increase in sales revenues was attributable to higher order volumes, particularly at Energie AG Oberösterreich Tech Services GmbH.

EBIT in the Holding & Services Segment rose from EUR -10.6 million in the same period of the previous year to EUR 9.8 million in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Entities allocated to the Holding & Services Segment and accounted for using the equity method generated significantly higher earnings contributions in the reporting period than in the previous year. The sale of property in the amount of some EUR 5.0 million also had a positive effect on the EBIT of the Segment. In contrast to this, the EBIT contributions of service entities allocated to the Holding & Services Segment showed a negative development all told due to considerably higher expenses and personnel costs.

Organisational reorientation in the telecommunications business area

In the scope of service realignments within Energie AG, IT processes were bundled in the 2023/2024 fiscal year; this also affected the telecommunications business area. Telekom GmbH, which has both in-Group and external market operations, was merged with its affiliated companies Business Services GmbH and Customer Services GmbH in order to leverage synergies and strengths, particularly in the IT area, drive forward Group-wide digitalisation and be able to offer services in an even more efficient way.

Internet data volume transferred

in TB

The internet data transfer volume in the telecommunications business area was 156,027 terabytes (TB) in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, which is well above the previous year’s figure of 111,920 TB. This increase reflects the increasing demand for bandwidth, which can be observed on the entire market. As a result, new orders and upgrades for standard products were noted for external customers. Data transmission reliability was maintained at an excellent level with a security of supply (= data connection availability) of 99.99% (previous year: 99.98%). The fibre-optic network is being continuously developed and optimised to ensure a consistently high level of supply security. A new product was launched in order to be able to achieve agreed service levels for Telekom customers even in case of power failures.

The wholesale offensive launched in the 2022/2023 fiscal year continued in the reporting period. A long-term framework agreement was successfully concluded with a major provider. Several connections have been ordered on the basis of this agreement, enabling major growth potential. Additionally, product innovations, proactive customer support, strategic pricing and targeted cooperations with system providers had a positive effect on sales figures in the Wholesale unit.

Beyond this, the interfaces between the Telekom business area and the BBOÖ Breitband Oberösterreich (BBOÖ GmbH) FTTH joint venture were also strengthened in the past fiscal year. The framework conditions for the distribution of subsidies for grid expansion of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) lines, which changed at the start of the reporting period, returned to the original form of the subsidy system towards the end of the 2023/2024 fiscal year.

Shared services

The three Group-wide service companies

• Energie AG Oberösterreich Services und Digital Solutions GmbH (Services und Digital Solutions GmbH)
• Energie AG Oberösterreich Personalmanagement GmbH (Personalmanagement GmbH) as well as
• Energie AG Oberösterreich Tech Services GmbH (Tech Services GmbH)

are combined in the Holding & Services Segment.

These service companies provide commercial and technical services for the entire Group in accordance with precisely defined quality and safety standards. These services are guided by external market conditions for similar products and services.

Services und Digital Solutions GmbH bundles services for the Energie AG Group in the areas of purchasing and logistics, real estate management, information technology, accounting, legal and insurance, telecommunications and customer services, invoicing, data management, receivables management and customer payment processing. The focus in the reporting period was on group-wide digitalisation, which as driven forward by campaigns such as the integration of harmonised and agile IT service management, consistent use and expansion of cloud-based data analysis and business automation solutions, the implementation of SAP S/4HANA ERP and the further expansion of digital interfaces in the customer service area. The digital services were certified in line with ISO 27001:2022. Construction work on the new “PowerService Gmunden” office and workshop building was completed in the reporting year with the building being put into operation in April 2024. In addition to a warehouse and workshops, the building offers over 100 office workstations for the employees of Netz OÖ and Tech Services GmbH. Beyond this, approval was granted for the expansion of the apprentice dormitory and for the general renovation and conversion of the existing training workshop in Gmunden, the intent being to build a future-oriented apprentice campus for tomorrow’s workforce at this location. Numerous customer service projects were implemented in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, such as the migration of the FTTH division to the current sales system. In addition, work pushed forward on implementing the provisions of the electricity cost subsidy, the electricity cost supplementary subsidy and the grid cost subsidy defined by Austria’s federal government.

The focus of Personalmanagement GmbH’s activities is both on matters related to personnel strategy and personnel policy for the Group, governed by the Holding division “HR Strategy and Control”, and on all agendas relating to personnel and management development, personnel support, personnel accounting and apprenticeship programs. In order to more firmly anchor positive leadership as a foundation for management within the Group, the “strength-oriented employee DIALOGUE” was introduced in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, accompanied by a comprehensive range of training courses. A further “PowerTalente” cycle will continue to promote young talents within the Group. Employer branding measures, tailored for specific target groups, were implemented in the reporting period to secure the required human resources and skills. In addition to the annual HTL trainee program, a graduate trainee program was also advertised and launched. Beyond this, there was a deliberate focus on diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI).

As the provider of technical services at Energie AG, Tech Services GmbH is the central owner of know-how in the Group. The service portfolio includes the design, project planning, construction and maintenance of electricity, gas and telecommunications infrastructures, and power plants. There is a specific focus on systems in the Hydroelectric Power unit and heat, photovoltaics and biogas sectors. The 2023/2024 fiscal year spotlighted the resource-related planning and the implementation of initial campaigns in the scope of the “LOOP” strategy project. These campaigns are part of the growth strategy in plant and grid construction. The start of construction work at the pumped-storage power plant in Ebensee, is particularly worthy of note; Tech Services GmbH was tasked with project management here. Regional storm damage posed a challenge in the reporting year, but it was successfully overcome due to the decentralised setup of the business units. Against the backdrop of stronger expansion of the electricity grids and generation plants in the framework of the energy transition, an increasing need for personnel resources is anticipated in the next few years. In order to meet these requirements, targeted process-oriented and organisational campaigns were launched directly in the working environment. The implementation of these campaigns is supported by intensive communication, ongoing evaluation and increased digitalisation initiatives in order to further improve process efficiency and quality.

Strategic investments

The companies Wels Strom GmbH, Salzburg AG and BBOÖ GmbH, consolidated at equity, as well as further minority holdings complete the business portfolio of Energie AG.

Wels Strom GmbH, in which Energie AG holds a 49.0% participating interest, is the integrated electricity supply company of the city of Wels. Other business areas include services relating to electromobility and energy systems for key account customers.

At the start of the 2023 fiscal year (1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023), the legality of price increases in the private customer sector dominated media and legal discussions. The essential price increases were founded in the best possible way on the statutory environment and mitigated by a mid-year price reduction in 2023.

In the 2023 fiscal year, proprietary electricity generation (net generation) increased by 13.3% year-on-year to around 99.2 GWh. Electricity generated by the power plant portfolio fell by 13.6% to 96.8 GWh, while electricity generated by small-scale hydropower plants increased by 2.4% to 1.6 GWh. All told, the self-generation ratio in the 2023 fiscal year was 15.0% of electricity sales to customers of Wels Strom GmbH.

The electricity volume delivered to customers by Wels Strom GmbH fell year-on-year from 710 GWh to 661 GWh. The decline is attributable to a change in private customer consumption behaviour, proactive terminations by Voltino customers in the 2022 fiscal year, the effects of which became apparent in the past fiscal year, and decreases in consumption by business customers due to the economic situation.

Now that the implementation of the “Future Initiative” project has been concluded, the focus is on ongoing optimisation of the new organisation. Parallel to this, Wels Strom GmbH is undergoing fundamental expansion in the scope of a strategy process launched in the previous year.

Salzburg AG für Energie, Verkehr und Telekommunikation (Salzburg AG), in which Energie AG holds a 26.13% participating interest, evaluated and refocused its strategy in the 2023 fiscal year. Implementation campaigns are being consistently and sustainably derived from the six ambitions, Champion, Decarboniser, Innovator, Team Player, Customer Hero, Value Winner, which define the strategic orientation. For example, the Decarboniser ambition seeks to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources to 2 TWh per year by 2040, and also to anchor climate-neutrality and sustainability for activities and reduce CO₂ emissions from all activities by 50.0% as early as 2030.

Following the severe upheavals in the energy industry in the 2022 fiscal year, the effects of which were still felt to a lesser extent in the 2023 fiscal year, the situation on the wholesale markets eased in the past fiscal year with prices on the energy markets returning to lower levels.

The Group’s total electricity consumption amounted to 12,089 GWh in the 2023 fiscal year, with sales to end users including the Group’s own consumption accounting for 3,912 GWh (previous year: 3,307 GWh) and the trading volume for 8,176 GWh (previous year: 10,723 GWh). Electricity generated by hydropower plants, including the Danube holdings, increased by 5.4% year-on-year in the 2023 fiscal year totalling 1,416 GWh (previous year: 1,344 GWh).

In collaboration with Verbund AG, the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Stegenwald power plant took place in June 2023. Both companies are jointly investing approx. EUR 100.0 million into this project. After a planned construction period of 2 years, the power plant is expected to generate around 72.8 GWh of energy.

The Group’s total gas sales amounted to 15,138 GWh in the 2023 fiscal year. Sales to end users including the Group’s own consumption totalled 2,987 GWh (previous year: 1,813 GWh) with a trading volume of 12,150 GWh.

Work is pushing forward on further decarbonisation of the district heating supply. The inauguration of the Siezenheim II biomass cogeneration plant in October 2023 and the Radstadt biomass heating plant project, which is currently under construction, are of particular note here. At 878 GWh, total district heating sales including grid losses was 1.5% below the previous year’s level.

The telecommunications business area has seen constant growth for years; this is also the case in the 2023 fiscal year. It again proved possible to increase the customer base in terms of internet connections, however, the number of cable TV connections fell slightly. In the 2023 fiscal year, cable TV reception was made available throughout almost the whole of the federal state of Salzburg.

The 2023 fiscal year saw reorganisation in the transport sector. As of 1 January 2023, public transport was spun off into a separate entity, Salzburg Linien Verkehrsbetriebe GmbH, which is now a 100% subsidiary of Salzburg AG. A transport advisory board has been set up and now has a decisive influence on the future direction of public transport in Salzburg. This advisory board ensures the necessary influence of the city and province of Salzburg for direct commissioning of transport services. This step was preceded by extensive discussions with the owners. In order to ensure the continued success of the restructuring process, the Management Board is planning ongoing developments of the transport strategy for the 2024 fiscal year. The strategy development process will take place in close coordination with the transport advisory board and will be comprehensively supported by experts from the Corporate Strategy business area.

Additions to non-current assets totalled EUR 285.3 million (previous year: EUR 269.5 million). Of the total additions, EUR 267.7 million were for property, plant and equipment; this includes investments in generation plants in the amount of EUR 41.4 million (previous year: EUR 28.4 million). A total of EUR 100.5 million was invested in property, plant and equipment for the electricity grid (previous year: EUR 98.3 million); the corresponding figure in the telecom technologies unit was EUR 39.4 million (previous year: EUR 41.1 million). The introduction of smart meters accounted for EUR 28.1 million of these investments.

BBOÖ Breitband Oberösterreich GmbH (BBOÖ GmbH) is a company founded in 2022 by the Province of Upper Austria and Energie AG Oberösterreich; a 50.0% share is indirectly owned by the Province of Upper Austria via the Upper Austrian state holding company, while Energie AG Oberösterreich holds a further 50.0%.

The entity’s aim is the rapid expansion of the fibre optic infrastructure in the Province of Upper Austria, and in Großarltal in the federal state of Salzburg, and to enable access to the fastest transmission bandwidths at equal and fair conditions. The intent is to set up an internet service provider independent, non-discriminatory fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network independently of internet service providers in accordance with uniform standards as notified by the European Commission.

The tasks of BBOÖ GmbH include planning, implementing and operating the FTTH fibre infrastructure. BBOÖ GmbH acts independently of the individual interests of the providers, in the interest of the general public and in the sense of a nationwide supply mandate.

In the 2023 fiscal year, the company was able to (partly) commission further networks, giving end users in more than 300 communities the possibility to use the broadband services of various internet service providers. BBOÖ GmbH actively manages network operations in the majority of these areas.