European Utilities Key Player Profiles: ESB

Table of Contents

• CATALYST
• SUMMARY
• METHODOLOGY
• ANALYSIS
  • Key Player Scorecard examines 31 leading utilities drawn from across Europe' s competitive arenas
  • Key Players dominate power generation capacity market share in the Wmed competitive arena
  • Key Players dominate power generation output market share in the Wmed and CEE competitive arenas
  • Despite ongoing industry consolidation, in no competitive arenas do Key Players dominate power supply volume market share
  • Despite ongoing industry consolidation, in no competitive arenas do Key Players dominate gas volume market share
    • The Key Player Scorecard assesses utilities across four pillars: Performance, Scale, Growth and Exposure
      • The Performance pillar combines 5 financial metrics to measure business performance
      • The Scale pillar combines financial and operational metrics to measure the size of a utility
      • The Growth pillar measures the rate of growth of a utility' s financial and energy resources
      • The Exposure pillar combines both operational and financial measurements of risk
  • ESB scores 27.9/100 on Datamonitor' s European Utility Scorecard and ranks 22 out of the 31 Key Players covered
  • ESB ranks well below average on three of the four Scorecard pillars
    • ESB achieves an overall ranking of 22, with a utility score of 27.9
    • Only on the Scale pillar does ESB score significantly below the Key Player average
    • ESB' s financial Performance lags the Key Player average, though with a lower level of risk
    • ESB lags in both Scale and Growth compared to the other Key Players
    • Low operating profit margins pull ESB' s Performance ranking down to 23
    • ESB lags the Key Player average score on most Performance metrics
    • ESB is less profitable than the Key Player average and the top ten utilities
    • ESB has a higher return on energy volume than several top ten utilities
  • ESB is a smaller utility with no gas business, resulting in a Scale rank of 28
    • Generation capacity is ESB' s best Scale metric, on which it ranks 18
    • In generation capacity, ESB ranks 18 with 5 GW
    • ESB is focused solely on power, with a supply volume of 14 TWh
    • ESB ranks in the lower half of the Key Player power customers, with a less than one percent share
    • At 14 TWh, ESB ranks 25 in terms of power volume
    • ESB ranks 27 in revenue and 26 in net income, respectively
  • Despite strong operating cash flow growth, ESB' s ranks 22 on the Growth pillar
    • ESB' s Growth ranking of 22 is due mainly to low profit and power supply volume growth
    • As an unlisted company, ESB does not have a price earnings ratio
    • ESB saw average annual profit growth of 7.9% outpace revenue growth 6.2% from 2001 and 2005
    • From 2004-2005, ESB had strong increases in operating cash flow (46.4%) despite a decline in power supply volume (-7.2%)
  • ESB' s positive power NTR contributes to an Exposure ranking of 5
    • ESB outperforms the Key Player average on risk metrics
    • ESB has a long power NTR of 14.5 %
    • As its generation output exceeds its power supply obligations ESB has a long power NTR of 1,973 GW
    • ESB has a comparatively low debt to equity ratio of 72.6%
    • ESB ranks 15 of the 31 Key Players in terms of debt leverage
    • ESB experienced robust operating cash flow growth of 46.4%, despite a fall in power supply volume of -7.2%
  • ESB' s power sales are focused on Ireland
    • Gas is ESB' s main power generation fuel type
    • ESB ranks in the lower half of the Key Player power customers, with a less than one percent share
• APPENDIX
• APPENDIX
  • Definitions
  • Datamonitor Consulting
  • List of Tables
    • Table 1: The Key Players are drawn from across a diverse range of markets
    • Table 2: The Performance pillar combines 5 financial metrics to measure business performance
    • Table 3: The Scale pillar combines financial and operational metrics to measure the size of a utility
    • Table 4: The Growth pillar measures the rate of growth of a utility' s financial and energy resources
    • Table 5: The Exposure pillar combines both operational and financial measurements of risk
    • Table 6: ESB scores 27.9/100 on Datamonitor' s European Utility Scorecard and ranks 22 out of the 31 Key Players covered
    • Table 7: ESB scores 8.5/25 on the Performance pillar, and ranks 23 out of 31 on this measurement
    • Table 8: ESB scores 0.8/25 on the Scale pillar, and ranks 28 out of 31 on this measurement
    • Table 9: ESB scores 7.6/25 on the Growth pillar, and ranks 22 out of 31 on this measurement
    • Table 10: ESB scores 11/25 on the Exposure pillar, and ranks 5 out of 31 on this measurement
    • Table 11: Low operating profit margins pull ESB' s Performance ranking down to 23
    • Table 12: ESB is a smaller utility with no gas business, resulting in a Scale rank of 28
    • Table 13: Despite strong operating cash flow growth, ESB' s ranks 22 on the Growth pillar
    • Table 14: ESB' s positive power NTR contributes to an Exposure ranking of 5
    • Table 15: Return on fixed assets
    • Table 16: Return on sales
    • Table 17: Operating profit margin
    • Table 18: Return on energy volume
    • Table 19: Return on investment
    • Table 20: Generation Capacity / EU25 market total
    • Table 21: Power Supply Volume / EU25 market total
    • Table 22: Gas Supply Volume / EU25 market total
    • Table 23: Net income / Net income of 94 leading utilities
    • Table 24: Revenue / Revenue of 94 leading utilities
    • Table 25: Revenue growth, 2001-2005 CAGR
    • Table 26: Profit growth, 2001-2005 CAGR
    • Table 27: Growth in operating cash flow, 2004 to 2005
    • Table 28: Gas supply volume growth, 2004-2005
    • Table 29: Growth in power supply volume, 2004 to 2005
    • Table 30: Power NTR / Power supply volume
    • Table 31: Gas NTR / Gas supply volume
    • Table 32: Debt leverage
    • Table 33: Growth in operational cash flow - Growth in energy volume
  • List of Figures
    • Figure 1: Datamonitor' s Key Player Scorecard examines 31 leading utilities drawn from across Europe' s competitive arenas
    • Figure 2: Key Players dominate power generation capacity market share in the Wmed competitive arena
    • Figure 3: Key Players dominate power generation output market share in the Wmed and CEE competitive arenas
    • Figure 4: Despite ongoing industry consolidation, in no competitive arenas do Key Players dominate power supply volume market share
    • Figure 5: Despite ongoing industry consolidation, in no competitive arenas do Key Players dominate gas volume market share
    • Figure 6: ESB achieves an overall ranking of 22, with a utility score of 27.9
    • Figure 7: Only on the Scale pillar does ESB score significantly below the Key Player average
    • Figure 8: ESB' s financial Performance lags the Key Player average, though with a lower level of risk
    • Figure 9: ESB lags in both Scale and Growth compared to the other Key Players
    • Figure 10: ESB lags the Key Player average score on most Performance metrics
    • Figure 11: ESB is less profitable than the Key Player average and the top ten utilities
    • Figure 12: ESB has a higher return on energy volume than several top ten utilities
    • Figure 13: Generation capacity is ESB' s best Scale metric, on which it ranks 18
    • Figure 14: In generation capacity, ESB ranks 18 with 5 GW
    • Figure 15: ESB is focused solely on power, with a supply volume of 14 TWh
    • Figure 16: ESB ranks in the lower half of the Key Player power customers, with a less than one percent share
    • Figure 17: At 14 TWh, ESB ranks 25 in terms of power volume
    • Figure 18: ESB ranks 27 in revenue and 26 in net income, respectively
    • Figure 19: ESB' s Growth ranking of 22 is due mainly to low profit and power supply volume growth
    • Figure 20: As an unlisted company, ESB does not have a price earnings ratio
    • Figure 21: ESB saw average annual profit growth of 7.9% outpace revenue growth 6.2% from 2001 and 2005
    • Figure 22: From 2004-2005, ESB had strong increases in operating cash flow (46.4%) despite a decline in power supply volume (-7.2%)
    • Figure 23: ESB outperforms the Key Player average on risk metrics
    • Figure 24: ESB has a long power NTR of 14.5 %
    • Figure 25: As its generation output exceeds its power supply obligations ESB has a long power NTR of 1,973 GW
    • Figure 26: ESB has a comparatively low debt to equity ratio of 72.6%
    • Figure 27: ESB ranks 15 of the 31 Key Players in terms of debt leverage
    • Figure 28: ESB experienced robust operating cash flow growth of 46.4%, despite a fall in power supply volume of -7.2%
    • Figure 29: Gas is ESB' s main power generation fuel type
    • Figure 30: ESB ranks in the lower half of the Key Player power customers, with a less than one percent share