6 Financial risk management

The Alpiq Group’s operating activities are exposed to strategic and operational risks, in particular credit, liquidity and market risks (energy price risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk). The principles of the Group’s risk management policy are established by the Board of Directors. The Executive Board is responsible for their development and implementation. The Risk Management Committee monitors compliance with the principles and policies. It also defines the hedging strategy for the production of the Group’s own power plant portfolio, which is approved by the Executive Board.

Capital management

Across the Alpiq Group, capital is managed in line with the Group’s overall financial strategy. During the budgeting and planning process, the Board of Directors takes notice annually of the planned performance of the figures critical for capital management. In addition, it receives regular reports on current developments. The strategy is focused on the Group’s reported consolidated equity and net debt to EBITDA ratio. At 30 June 2021, the Group reports an equity ratio of 42.1 % (31 December 2020: 51.2 %).

The level of financial liabilities must be reasonable in proportion to profitability in order to ensure a solid credit rating in line with sector norms. The ratio of net debt to EBITDA before exceptional items plays a decisive role in capital management. This is calculated as follows:

Credit risk

A substantial portion of the energy contracts entered into by the Alpiq Group is based on agreements containing a netting arrangement. Netting arrangements are used widely in energy trading to reduce the volume of effective cash flows. Items relating to the same counterparties are only presented on a net basis in the balance sheet if a legally enforceable right to offsetting of the recognised amounts exists in the netting arrangement, and the intention exists to settle on a net basis. Furthermore, additional collateral, such as guarantees, variation margin payments or insurance cover, is collected where required. As a rule, the collateral held by the Alpiq Group covers both unrecognised energy transactions involving physical delivery and transactions recognised as financial instruments.

Financial collateral received and issued in connection with the bilateral agreements to settle margin differences is presented in the following:

In the first half of 2021, Alpiq identified a significant increase in the credit risk associated with several counterparties. The associated impairment losses on receivables were increased by CHF 66 million in the first half of 2021. For more information, please refer to the “Market risk” section.

Liquidity risk

A substantial portion of the receivables in European energy trading are offset and settled on specified dates, reducing peak cash flow requirements. Margin agreements are commonly used on energy commodity exchanges and among large energy traders to reduce counterparty risk. Energy price movements can consequently lead to substantial receivables or payables in the short term. The Alpiq Group manages such variable liquidity requirements by means of an early warning system, by maintaining sufficient liquid resources and by obtaining committed credit facilities from banks. The Treasury & Insurance functional unit is responsible for Group-wide liquidity management. Its role is to plan, monitor, provide and optimise liquidity of the Alpiq Group on a monthly rolling basis.

Market risk

The Alpiq Group’s exposure to market risk primarily comprises energy price risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk. These risks are monitored on an ongoing basis and managed using derivative financial instruments.

Energy price risk refers to potential price fluctuations that could have an adverse impact on the Alpiq Group. They can arise from factors such as variations in price volatility, market price movements or changing correlations between markets and products. Energy liquidity risks also belong to this category. They occur when an open energy position cannot be closed out or can only be closed out on very unfavourable terms due to a lack of market bids. Future own use energy transactions are not reported in the balance sheet. Energy transactions are also conducted as part of the programme to optimise Alpiq’s power plant portfolio. A large proportion of the replacement values for energy derivatives shown at the reporting date are attributable to optimisation positions, with positive and negative replacement values generally cancelling each other out. Alpiq also engages in energy derivatives trading. The energy derivatives concluded by the Alpiq Group are usually forward contracts. The fair values are calculated on the basis of the difference between the contractually fixed forward prices and current forward prices applicable at the reporting date. Normally, the effect of credit risk on fair values is not material. Due to the significant increase in energy prices in the first half of 2021, the replacement values of energy derivatives and thus the credit risk associated with several counterparties in various countries increased considerably and also led to liquidity problems at certain counterparties. The increased level of risk relates to replacement values for energy derivatives amounting to CHF 45 million. Measures were agreed with the counterparties to cushion the impact on Alpiq. The fair value of the items concerned was reduced by CHF 37 million due to management’s assessment of the credit risk. Taking into account the credit risk, the corresponding energy derivatives were reclassified to Level 3 energy derivatives, see note 7. The risks associated with trading and optimisation transactions are managed via clearly defined responsibilities and stipulated risk limits in accordance with the Group Risk Policy. Risk Management reports regularly on compliance with these limits to the Risk Management Committee and the Executive Board utilising a formalised risk reporting system. The risk positions are monitored in accordance with the Value at Risk (VaR) and Profit at Risk (PaR) industry standards.

The Alpiq Group seeks wherever possible to mitigate foreign currency risks by natural hedging of operating income and expenses denominated in foreign currencies. The remaining foreign currency risk is hedged by means of forward transactions in accordance with the Group’s Financial Risk Policy.

The risks arising from volatility in interest rates relate to the interest-bearing financial assets and liabilities of the Alpiq Group. According to the Group’s Financial Risk Policy, liquidity is invested for a maximum of two years. The funding required for the business, however, is obtained on a long-term basis at fixed interest rates. Financing instruments with variable interest rates, particularly those that are long-term, are generally hedged by means of interest rate swaps. This means that a change in interest rates applied to interest-bearing assets has an impact on financial income.