Had another year appeared on the Swedish wind developer's first quarter interim report, Arise would probably have been in big trouble.

If the pandemic and record-low electricity tariffs, for instance, appeared in in 2014, when the company's debt came to SEK 1.5 billion (EUR 140 million) and revenue at merely SEK 258 million, Arise would have had a tough time staying in the air.

However, after a series of years focused on reducing the company's monumental debt and aggressive hedging at 60 percent of the power price, Arise exited the first quarter of 2020 with its skin intact.

Revenue did decline from SEK 81 million in Q1'19 to SEK 50 million in the same period of this year, while the result lands at a loss of SEK 7 million. Although after several frugal years, the company's balance seems to remain afloat without major treading.

"The economic strength we have achieved in recent years is, of course, especially valuable in times like these. This gives us security but also the courage to lean forward in business discussions of various kinds. At the end of the period, we had SEK 224 million in liquidity, and we expect positive cash flows during the second quarter upon completing construction projects," writes Arise Chief Executive Daniel Johansson.

Could retain wind farms

The two wind farms Johansson mentions are Salsjöhöjden and Ranasjöhöjden with an approximate combined capacity of 240 MW that Arise is set to complete this summer.

The plan has always been for the two facilities to be sold as a package in 2020, but Arise writes in its financial statement that postponing the sale would be possible under unfavorable market conditions.

Managing its own wind farms is not completely unknown for the Swedish developer, which operates 10 facilities totaling 139 MW.

Despite the current chaotic market conditions, Q1'20 will be a cakewalk compared to last year, when Arise noted a quarter-billion-krona deficit.

This resulted from the sale of Arise's share in the 213 MW Jädraås wind farm to The Renewable Infrastructure Group (TRIP) in early 2019. Most of this loss, SEK 245 million to be precise, occurred in connection with Arise's swap-contract breach tied to the farm.

English Edit: Daniel Frank Christensen

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