Vattenfall shows continued strong financial performance

The Vattenfall group again presents strong results for the first three months 2005 on all its markets.

Compared with the equivalent period in 2004, operating profit increased by 20.7 per cent to SEK 9,219 million (7,641), and excluding items affecting comparability by 15.8 per cent to SEK 9,196 million (7,941). The increase is almost entirely attributable to Germany, which has shown significant improvement. Poland also reports improved operating profit, an improve-ment, however, that is mostly due to exchange rate effects. Operating profit for the Nordic Countries remained unaltered on a satisfactory level. Net sales increased by about 10 per cent to SEK 35,036 million (31,810), primarily attributable to Germany. Total electricity generation increased marginally to 46.2 TWh compared with 45.8 TWh for the first quarter of 2004. Hydro power generation increased by 18 per cent to 11.1 TWh (9.4 TWh). Nuclear power and fossil-based power dropped somewhat. Vattenfall’s financial position continued to improve. Continued strong cash flow and low growth investments has enabled further reductions in borrowings. Compared with 31 December 2004, net debt dropped by more than SEK 4 billion to SEK 51.4 billion. On 31 March last year, net debt totaled SEK 62.9 billion. The entire report is available at www.vattenfall.com (select “Investors” -> “Financial Re-ports”). Analysts’ conference and Conference Call at 10:00h At 10:00 (CET) Lars G Josefsson, CEO and Matts Ekman, CFO will host a conference call presenting the results, followed by a Question & Answer session. The conference call will be webcast. To participate in the Conference Call please dial one of the following numbers a few minutes before 10:00 CET: +44 (0) 20 7107 0611 (UK) +46 (0)8 5069 2105 (Sweden) +45 80 883 140 (Denmark) +33 (0)1 7070 0543 (France) +49 (0) 69 2 22220593 (Germany) Playback: The playback will be available one hour after the conference call for at least 72 hours. Participants requesting the Digital Playback will be dialling +44 207 108 6233 (Num-ber in UK) please enter the ID 769 followed by the # sign. Web cast To follow Vattenfall's presentation on the Internet (audio + slides), please click on http://www.financialhearings.com/ and select "Vattenfall". The presentation will be archived for several months. Please note that you will need “Real Player” or “Windows Media Player” to follow the presentations. To download the presentation slides please go to http://www.vattenfall.com/ Investors / Presentations / For further information, please contact: Knut Leman, Senior Vice President Communications, phone: +46 (8) 739 50 31. Klaus Aurich, Head of Investor Relations, phone: +46 (8) 739 65 14. Martin May, Head of Group Media Relations, phone: +46 (8) 739 52 70. From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +46 8 739 50 10.