Funding and investment strategy

The year under review 2024/25 has again been characterised by distinctive and volatile geopolitical events, with far-reaching economic consequences for economies worldwide, coupled with the erratic customs policy of the current US administration, and significant price fluctuations.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has been successful in bringing inflation in the euro zone down to its target level of around 2.0% with ongoing interest rate cuts in recent months. Further monetary policy actions are taken by the ECB on a data-driven basis.

International ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the outlook for Austria’s credit rating (Aa1) from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ , due to sluggish economic performance and above-EU average inflation. The rating agency justified the decision on the grounds that the outlook for Austria's fiscal and debt policies had deteriorated over the past six months.

Given these diverse and complex areas of tension, Energie AG has continued its proven strategy of a stable and conservative funding and investment strategy in the year under review.

Top rating reaffirmed

Energie AG was also assessed by international ratings agency S&P Global Ratings (S&P) this fiscal year. This involves rating the enterprise's ability to meet its financial obligations on time. Credit quality is assessed by investigating the business risk profile and the financial risk profile on the basis of a variety of key figures.

After analysing the financial situation, S&P again confirmed Energie AG's excellent credit rating of A (with a stable outlook) in June 2025. This strong investment grade credit rating continues to ensure that the company has a high degree of flexibility and excellent access to funding sources on attractive terms.

Major milestones in Group funding

One key success factor in the transition towards the development of a sustainable energy system is early coverage of future financing needs with the best possible terms and framework conditions. During the reporting period, the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted Energie AG a EUR 400.0 million loan for hydroelectric power development, an important step towards a sustainable and independent energy future.

The ‘Green Financing Framework’ ¹⁾ published in the first half of the 2024/25 fiscal year is another key building block for future funding. This framework summarises the sustainability strategy of Energie AG and outlines the essential future investment fields required for the transformation with a view to sustainable energy systems. This will create a robust basis for the direct use of the funds made available for the implementation of the energy transition.

Low debt and high financial flexibility

In early March 2025, the Energie AG corporate bond (EUR 300.0 million) was duly redeemed. As a result of this repayment, the Group’s redemption profile has been significantly extended and, with a capital-weighted average remaining maturity of more than 10 years, is characterised by a distinctly long-term maturity structure. As of 30 September 2025, the volume of external financial liabilities decreased by EUR 209.0 million to a low level of EUR 401.6 million (previous year: EUR 610.6 million).

As of 30 September 2025, the Energie AG Group had EUR 131.4 million (previous year: EUR 308.5 million) in cash and cash equivalents. As of the reporting date, the Group also had EUR 40.4 million (previous year: EUR 145.1 million) in fixed term deposits and short-term investments. Because a large proportion of this strategic liquidity reserve is held in the form of cash or cash-equivalent instruments, the risk profile can be considered extremely conservative.

In addition, in order to further hedge current and structural liquidity, liquidity reserves amounting to EUR 315.0 million in the form of committed credit lines were made available by Austrian and international banks. These had not been utilised by the reporting date of 30 September 2025. The sound liquidity reserves and the excellent credit rating further guarantee the unchanged strong financial flexibility of the Energie AG Group in the long term.