Swiss-based MET Group increased the volume of traded natural gas by 43 percent, amounting to 71 BCM, and the company’s consolidated revenue reached EUR 11.2 billion in 2020 despite a challenging market environment.
The Trading and Wholesale Division overperformed in 2020, mainly driven by Western European wholesale-related trading activity which successfully monetised market opportunities in the volatility-driven commodity price environment. Natural gas prices decreased at the end of 2019 and – with the economic downturn accompanying the Covid pandemic – remained low during most of 2020. In spite of this challenging environment, MET Group’s consolidated revenue reached EUR 11.2 billion and the company maintained its profitability.
Due to the more intense wholesale activity, the total volume of traded natural gas expanded significantly, amounting to 71 BCM (billion cubic metres) in 2020, bringing a 43 percent growth compared to the previous year’s 50 BCM.
This overperformance more than compensated for a demand-driven reduction in both power and gas sales within the Sales and Distribution Division, where most of the European countries were impacted mainly in Q2 and Q3 2020. The Industrial Asset Division also performed above expectations, and, in addition, the Group added further renewable assets to its portfolio.
“This is the advantage of running MET Group under an integrated business model: capturing the full value chain enables us to monetise on certain segments and outperform even if, for example, Sales and Distribution are under pressure as we experienced during 2020. We still have substantial room to grow in our core markets of gas and power, and we are also committed towards the energy transition and clean energy, thus we set ambitious renewable targets as well,” said Benjamin Lakatos, CEO of MET Group.
MET Group is an integrated energy company with activities in natural gas and power markets, present in 14 countries through subsidiaries and 25 national gas markets. MET is owned 80% by its employees and 20% by the Keppel Corporation.