Outlook

In the medium term, the merger between Atel and EOS to form Alpiq will generate additional business and growth opportunities for the company's Energy segment, which will already make significant contributions to the results for 2010. The Energy Services segment has attractive order books that will again ensure a positive performance. Nevertheless, 2010 will be another very demanding year for Alpiq, with continued and, in some cases, mounting pressure on prices and margins. In the first two months of 2010 alone, the relevant spot prices dropped by around 20 % compared with last year's period, while the longer-term forward prices gave up about 10 % in the same time frame. A recovery in demand and market liquidity is only expected to have an impact on Alpiq's business towards the end of 2010. With uncertainty still surrounding the regulatory environment, that will remain challenging. Added to that, the continued implementation of the integration process will again tie up funds and resources during 2010, albeit to a lesser extent than in 2009. Against this backdrop, the company expects to post another slight decline in revenue for 2010 with earnings on a par with 2009.