German energy major RWE saw an uptick in profits last year thanks to boosted renewables sales but expects earnings to fall this year amid lower wholesale prices, the company said in its full-year results posting on Thursday.

Total investment in new renewables projects last year jumped to €11.bn, up from €4.4bn in 2022. A large portion of this came from RWE’s acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses in the US for €6.3bn. Further investment went directly to new wind and solar power projects and battery storage facilities in Europe and the US, the company said.

The company’s total adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 2023 ended on €8.4bn, exceeding company forecasts and up from €6.3bn for 2022. Its onshore wind and solar business had a particularly good year, bringing in €1.25bn in adjusted EBITDA, up from €827m year-on-year.

Earnings from its coal and nuclear business fell in line with global efforts to phase out the polluting fossil fuel. The company added that its nuclear and coal business will be renamed ‘phaseout technologies’ from this year onwards.

The company’s global portfolio grew by more than 160 facilities over the year, adding a total capacity of 6.3GW. Electricity production from renewables increased by 27% to 45.2 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, compared with 35.5TWh in the same period the previous year.

Shares in the company were up 1.8% in pre-market trade, with traders telling reporters that some investors "went into the numbers rather cautious with maybe some fears of a guidance cut" that did not materialise.

In its outlook for 2024, RWE said adjusted EBITDA for its core business will fall to between €5.2bn and €5.8bn, down from €7.75bn in 2023. However, the company confirmed plans to raise its dividend to €1.10 per share for this year, up from €1 planned for 2023.

For the current fiscal year, RWE has so far reduced its emissions by 27%, from 83 million tonnes in 2022 to 60.6 million tonnes in the year under review.

Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE, called the year “successful”. He said: “We achieved very good earnings, significantly expanded our green portfolio and at the same time substantially reduced our CO₂ emissions... We are resolutely pursuing our ‘Growing Green’ strategy: another 100 projects with a total capacity of more than 8GW are already under construction.”

In June last year, RWE announced plans to invest more than €50bn in the clean energy transition by 2030 as part of its Growing Green strategy.