FY2020/2021 First-half revenue

Half-Year Revenues back to €4M, close to Pre-Covid level thanks to a strong Q2

Revenue acceleration in Q2 2020/2021 (+ 69%)

2021 revenue growth confirmed

Pontpierre, France, January 26, 2021 – La Française de l’Énergie (Euronext: LFDE – ISIN: FR0013030152), a producer of energy with a negative carbon footprint, posted a strong revenue growth in the second quarter of 2020/2021, up by 69% compared to Q1 2020/2021, to € 2.5 million. Half-year turnover reached € 4 million, close to the pre-COVID level despite gas prices still below their usual levels.

Green electricity production at full capacity in Q2 2020/2021, after the temporary slowdown in the previous quarter

Over this quarter, the production of green electricity from abandoned mine gas recorded an improvement in its turnover to € 1.6 million (+ 26% compared to Q1 2020/2021). This good performance was supported by the increase in volumes in Hauts de France (+ 23%) and the contribution of the Anderlues site in Belgium (+ 40%, with an average selling price over the quarter up to 41.5 € / MWH). The Group’s 8 cogeneration plants are operating optimally today with an average availability rate of over 94% across its entire scope.

The Group is also continuing its efforts to activate the contribution to the turnover of its Green Certificates in relation to its Belgian production since 2019.

In line with previous periods, the gas production activity recorded a further increase in volumes, which more than doubled in the 2nd quarter of 2020/2021, with an average selling gas price rising from 6.2 € / MWh in Q1 2020/2021 to € 13.2 / MWh over this quarter, allowing a turnover of € 900,000. This good operational performance offset the unfavourable price effect of the period (-17% compared to H1 2019/2020).

The Group benefits from a feed-in tariff in France guaranteeing its selling electricity price, therefore allowing to decorrelate more than 62% of its revenues from the economic situation.

Revenue increase confirmed for 2021 and 2022

The gradual rise in gas prices was confirmed over the semester, as for electricity prices in Belgium. Therefore the Group took advantage of favourable market conditions to hedge 50% of the 2021 electricity volumes in Belgium at a fixed price.

Following the installation of two additional cogeneration plants at the Béthune site, the income generated by this project will increase the group’s annual turnover by more than € 2 million. Subsequent to the success of the first tranche of crowdfunding aimed at refinancing the equity allocated to the Béthune project, the Group has launched a second tranche of crowdfunding which raising will end on February 15, targeting a total of € 4.5 million raised through these two tranches.

In addition, 5 additional cogenerations have been ordered and will be commissioned by summer 2021 on the Group’s existing sites, thus bringing the number of cogenerations in operation to 15 (10 in Hauts-de-France and 5 in Belgium).

In parallel, the Group continues to move forward on the feasibility study of producing blue hydrogen from it the coal bed methane available in Lorraine, while finalizing the supplier calls for tenders related to the construction of the 15MW photovoltaic power plant on a former landfill in the Urban District of Faulquemont.

La Française de l’Energie is continuing its development in order to achieve its annualized turnover target of € 35 million with an EBITDA margin of over 45% by the end of 2022.

 Next announcement:

March 23, 2021 – Half-year results 2020/2021