The Crown Group reports a record profit of 2.2 billion US dollars for the first quarter of 2023, which is 169 million US dollars more than in the same period last year, but there are clouds on the horizon.
Hydro-Québec’s risk management strategy has more than offset lower prices in export markets, according to Jean-Hugues Lafleur, Hydro-Québec’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Hydro-Québec’s average export price was 13.2¢ per kilowatt hour. “However, we cannot expect such good results for the rest of the financial year, as the fall in market prices should be more noticeable in the coming months,” he warns.
Electricity sales in Quebec declined, mainly due to a mild winter. Results were also weighed down by increases in operating expenses such as payroll and employee benefits, including pension plans.
Hydro-Quebec justifies these expenses with “the growth of the company’s activities to improve the quality and reliability of services”.
Great River Hydro
It should be noted that the recent acquisition of Great River Hydro, Hydro-Québec in the United States, resulted in a loss of $4 million during the quarter due, among other things, to financial and legal costs related to the takeover is due.
“But Great River Hydro, we don’t look at it on a profit basis. It doesn’t have a huge impact on our bottom line, and that wasn’t the goal when we acquired it. With this acquisition we are aiming for a long-term perspective. Building thirteen hydroelectric power plants in New England would have been impossible. However, we managed to acquire these already built power plants,” explains Jean-Hughes Lafleur.
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