British power company tops in Europe after strong financial results and shareholder distribution

UK-based Drax will return money to shareholders following strong profit growth in the first half of the year.

Drax has initiated a GBP 300m (USD 386m) share buyback program following the strong results, according to Bloomberg News.

At the same time, the power company has updated its outlook for both 2024 and 2025.

In the current year, Drax expects adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to be at the top end of analysts’ consensus estimates of GBP 881-996m, and in 2025 the company’s hedging policy is expected to support operating profit.

Drax rose 11.7% to 632.55 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.

In the first half of the year, Drax’s adjusted EBITDA profit grew 23.5% to GBP 515 from 417m.

Even greater was the increase in profit before tax, which grew 37% to GBP 462.2m.

In addition to the share buyback program, Drax has also increased its dividend to shareholders to 10.4 pence per share from 9.2 pence in the same period of 2023.

(English edit by Christian Radich Hoffman)