By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Uniper will start to set aside money to pay back the billions it received from the German government as part of a bailout during Europe's energy crisis, it said on Thursday after swinging to a 6.3 billion euro ($6.8 billion) operating profit.
The move is the strongest sign yet that Europe's energy sector has turned a corner after severing most of its ties with Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war, with Uniper the most high-profile casualty of the ensuing crisis.
After Russia, Uniper's main gas supplier, stopped deliveries in 2022, Berlin had to step in with a 13.5 billion euro state bail-out that gave the German government a 99.12% stake in the energy company.
Uniper on Thursday said that it would build a 2.3 billion euro provision to start repaying that amount, benefiting from a one-off effect after the company's gas wholesale price projections turned out to be too pessimistic.
More favourable price developments and successful hedging in coal- and gas-fired power generation as well as at its trading business helped Uniper swing to adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 6.3 billion euros last year, from a year-earlier loss of 10.9 billion.
"Uniper closed 2023 with an exceptionally good result within our forecast," Chief Executive Michael Lewis said, adding the group was now in a very solid financial position and could start building provisions for future payment obligations.
Shares in the company were up 3.8% at 1224 GMT.
The news comes shortly after sources told Reuters that Berlin was starting to think about selling as much as 30% of its holding in the energy firm as part of a share sale next year, in a sign of the company's successful recovery.
Uniper, which is scheduled to release full annual results on Feb. 28, said that the payment obligation will fall due at the beginning of 2025 and could still change depending on business development this year.
It said preliminary adjusted net income reached 4.4 billion euros in 2023, compared with a 7.4 billion loss in 2022. Uniper had forecast 2023 adjusted EBIT of 6 billion to 7 billion euros and ajusted net profit of 4 billion to 5 billion euros.
($1 = 0.9318 euros)