Brookfield Renewable Announces Strong First Quarter Results

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BROOKFIELD, News, May 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (TSX: BEP.UN; NYSE: BEP) ("Brookfield Renewable Partners”, "BEP") today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025.

"We had a strong start to the year, delivering record results from our large, highly contracted, global operating fleet, which is now approaching 45,000 megawatts diversified across the lowest cost energy technologies. We were also successful advancing our growth initiatives, highlighted by our agreement to acquire National Grid Renewables and completing the privatization of Neoen,” said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable.

He continued, "The fundamentals for energy remain strong as investment in digitalization and reindustrialization is driving demand growth that far exceeds supply. This imbalance persists despite weaker market sentiment due to uncertainty of the impacts of tariffs globally. In the current environment, we feel our business is differentiated by its resiliency, strong balance sheet, and strategic positioning, allowing us to not only continue to execute, but also capitalize on the current environment to opportunistically grow our platform and extend our leadership position.”

Brookfield Renewable reported FFO of $315 million in the quarter, or $0.48 per unit, which adjusting for strong hydro generation last year, was up 15%. All in, FFO per unit was up 7%, as these results benefited from the stable, inflation-linked and contracted cash flows of our diverse global operating fleet, our growth activities and accretive capital recycling. After deducting non-cash depreciation and one-time expenses associated with completing the acquisition of Neoen, our Net loss attributable to Unitholders for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was $197 million.

Key highlights:

• Strengthening our balance sheet, highlighted by the issuance of C$450 million of medium-term notes during the quarter at our tightest new issue spread in almost 20 years, ending the quarter with approximately $4.5 billion of available liquidity, and providing flexibility to deploy capital in the current attractive environment. We have also been active repurchasing our units at current trading levels as we see this as an accretive use of capital, buying back ~$35 million of our units year-to-date.
• Executing asset recycling, closing and agreeing to the sale of $900 million of assets and businesses ($230 million net to Brookfield Renewable) in the quarter. We continue to advance our robust pipeline of sales processes and we expect to generate significant proceeds and strong returns from our asset rotation program throughout the year.
• Advancing commercial priorities including securing contracts to deliver an incremental ~4,500 gigawatt hours per year of generation. This included progressing the delivery of projects to Microsoft under the Renewable Energy Framework Agreement. We continue to view the initial 10,500 megawatts scoped into the agreement as the minimum we will contract under the framework, reflecting the strong demand for power we continue to see from many of the global technology players.
• Delivered ~800 megawatts of capacity during the quarter and expect to bring on ~8,000 megawatts of new renewable capacity this year.
• Deployed or committed $4.6 billion ($500 million net to Brookfield Renewable) across multiple investments, adding leading platforms and assets in the U.S. and globally. This included completing the privatization of Neoen and agreeing to acquire National Grid Renewables.

Volatile Times Favor the Strong

Current sentiment for the renewables sector reflects an elevated level of uncertainty, with investors reacting to tariff announcements and an evolving business landscape. We are of the view that many investors today are not discerning between those in the sector that are diversified and well positioned to mitigate potential impacts, and those that are not.

In the current environment, we feel our business is differentiated by its resiliency and strategic positioning, allowing us to not only continue to execute, but capitalize on the current environment to opportunistically grow and enhance our platform.

We have a diversified, global platform of almost 45,000 megawatts of operating capacity that generates high-quality, resilient and inflation-linked cash flows.

Our assets generate a critical resource at the lowest cost in their respective markets and our portfolio is approximately 90% contracted for an average duration of 14 years, with revenues ~70% indexed to inflation. Our fleet delivers power to more than 1,000 customers with no single corporate buyer representing more than 2% of our revenues. Our contracted and inflation-linked cash flows provide visibility on our growing operating earnings and returns to support our distribution and reinvestment in our business through cycles.

Our development projects are well protected against changes in input costs.

Most of our projects have fixed priced engineering, procurement and construction ("EPC”) contracts that have limited exposure to price increases. Where we do retain price exposure, we have also taken actions to help limit the impact on our returns by integrating clauses in our PPA contracts to enable price adjustments. These fixed price EPC contracts and PPA adjustment clauses help protect against changes in input costs impacting our currently under construction and near-term development pipeline and we will continue to execute our development with this approach going forward.

In addition to the EPC contracts and PPA clauses, as one of the largest buyers of materials, we are also well equipped to navigate tariffs and supply chain challenges relative to other players in the sector. We have a diverse global supply chain that supports our U.S. and worldwide development and have proactively increased consumption of domestic goods in the U.S. through the signing of framework agreements with OEMs to support the expansion of domestic suppliers.

The solar sector has been subject to tariffs in the U.S. for several years. This prompted domestic supply chain investment as well as the growth of supply chains outside of China. We import an immaterial amount of materials directly from China for our U.S. development activities as a result of our prior efforts to minimize the impact of in-place tariffs. This has us well positioned to navigate the current environment.

Outside of the U.S., we expect a positive impact on supply chain availability and input costs. Where U.S. developers were the dominant buyers of materials from Asian and European suppliers, we could see increasing quantities of materials available in those local markets, where local buyers like ourselves could benefit from higher availability and lower pricing.

Renewables are the most viable and lowest cost power source by a wide margin in most markets.

Similar to other price shock increases in recent years, such as higher borrowing rates, we expect to push any higher input costs that we see in our business through in the form of higher PPAs with very little expected impact on demand or developer returns.

With this backdrop, while most investors are focused on incremental risks they are seeing in the market today, the current uncertainty is creating an opportunity for those that are well positioned to extend their leadership position. Players like us with derisked, growing cash flows, strong balance sheets, access to capital and an ability to move with conviction are best placed to excel in this environment.

The Public to Private Market Bifurcation is Widening

Public market valuations for renewable energy companies have trended significantly lower in recent months. At the same time, fundamentals for energy demand are strong and meeting this demand requires significant capital. This is driving incumbent utilities and traditional energy players to refocus on their core businesses or seek scale capital partnerships or solutions, creating significant opportunities for those with access to capital, carve out capabilities and development expertise to acquire renewable platforms and assets for value.

During the quarter, we reached an agreement to acquire National Grid Renewables ("NGR”), a fully integrated onshore renewable power operator and developer in the U.S. NGR has 3,900 megawatts of operating and under construction assets, a 1,000-megawatt construction ready portfolio and an over 30,000-megawatt development pipeline, focused predominantly on utility-scale solar and battery storage systems.

Similar to the Deriva Energy (formerly Duke Energy Renewables) transaction we executed two years ago, NGR is a sizable acquisition that involves a corporate carve out with a large, unregulated operating portfolio, significant near-term operational improvement opportunities, and an attractive growth pipeline of advanced onshore assets. We were able to acquire the platform for value given our access to scale capital, ability to execute a complex carve out, and our operating and development capabilities.

NGR's contracted operating portfolio provides strong downside protection and we see an opportunity to deliver significant value through the development of the company's large, high-quality, advanced stage pipeline, which is well-located relative to the demand we are seeing from large technology companies. We expect to close the acquisition in the first half of the year.

We were also successful in the quarter acquiring the remaining outstanding shares of Neoen, resulting in our 100% ownership of the business. The privatization and close of the acquisition further demonstrates our ability to execute large-scale acquisitions and the opportunity in the present market for investors with access to capital. We expect to drive value generation through the acceleration of Neoen's development activities and via the implementation of an asset rotation program.

In contrast to the sentiment for renewables in the public markets today, we continue to see robust demand from private investors for our derisked operating assets and platforms with advanced projects and highly executable growth opportunities.

During the quarter, we closed and advanced several asset sales, crystallizing strong returns, including closing the first phase of our India portfolio sale and the sale of our interest in First Hydro, generating almost three times our invested capital and a ~20% return. In addition, we also reached an agreement to sell an additional 25% stake in Shepherds Flat at the same valuation as our previous 50% stake sale, generating almost two times our invested capital and proceeds of ~$200 million (~$50 million net to Brookfield Renewable).

The market for asset recycling continues to be robust and our pipeline of potential asset sales is large. We continue to bring on derisked operating assets and equip our platforms with end-to-end capabilities making them increasingly attractive to lower cost of capital buyers. Our growing portfolio of attractive assets and platforms is enabling us to continue scaling our capital rotation activities and deliver on our full-cycle value creation model, a very accretive and repeatable way to generate returns for our shareholders and fund our growth.

Looking ahead, we remain well positioned to continue to capitalize on the current market bifurcation, acquiring for value as well as monetizing our derisked renewables platforms and assets to lower cost of capital buyers, generating strong returns.

Operating Results

In the first quarter, we generated record FFO of $315 million, or $0.48 per unit, up 15% year-on-year when adjusting for strong hydro conditions last year. In total FFO per unit was up 7% year-over-year and we continue to target 10%+ FFO per unit growth in 2025. This underlying growth reflects the operating leverage of our fleet, successful commissioning of new capacity, recently closed investments and the scaling of our normal course capital recycling activities.

Our hydroelectric segment delivered FFO of $163 million on generation that was broadly in line with our long-term average ("LTA”). More importantly, this business is well positioned for a strong second quarter and 2025, as solid hydrology and a relatively cold winter in North America has resulted in a healthy snowpack and reservoirs near the long-term average. Our Colombian business, Isagen, had a strong quarter with generation well above LTA and EBITDA significantly above prior year, reflecting a return to strong normalized performance following last year's El Niño impacted results.

Our wind and solar segments generated $149 million of FFO benefiting from newly commissioned capacity and the closing of our investments in Neoen and Ørsted's ~3,500-megawatt operating offshore wind portfolio in the U.K. Both of these recent acquisitions are performing in line with our underwriting expectations.

Our distributed energy, storage, and sustainable solutions segments performed well, generating a combined $126 million of FFO, doubling from the prior year. Results from our distributed generation and storage business were positively impacted by the asset improvement programs we have been executing, the continued build-out of our development pipeline, and a gain on the sale of our interest in First Hydro. Westinghouse also continues to perform well, benefiting from the growing demand for nuclear power.

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Our financial position remains strong with approximately $4.5 billion of available liquidity at the end of the quarter. Our significant access to scale capital and strong investment grade balance sheet continues to differentiate our franchise and support our growth initiatives.

In March, we opportunistically issued C$450 million of 10-year notes at 4.54%. We achieved our lowest coupon in the past 5 years and our 155-bps spread matched our tightest new issue spread in almost 20 years. The issuance is consistent with our funding strategy of conservatively accessing the investment grade corporate debt market as our underlying cash flow grows.

We have also been active repurchasing our units at current trading levels, as we see this as an accretive use of capital. Year-to-date we have bought back ~$35 million of our own units, while ensuring we have substantial liquidity to take advantage of the robust growth opportunities we are seeing today.

Distribution Declaration

The next quarterly distribution in the amount of $0.373 per LP unit, is payable on June 30, 2025 to unitholders of record as at the close of business on May 30, 2025. In conjunction with the Partnership's distribution declaration, the Board of Directors of BEPC has declared an equivalent quarterly dividend of $0.373 per share, also payable on June 30, 2025 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on May 30, 2025. Brookfield Renewable targets a sustainable distribution with increases targeted on average at 5% to 9% annually.

The quarterly dividends on BEP's preferred shares and preferred LP units have also been declared.

Distribution Currency Option

The quarterly distributions payable on the BEP units and BEPC shares are declared in U.S. dollars. Unitholders who are residents in the United States will receive payment in U.S. dollars and unitholders who are residents in Canada will receive the Canadian dollar equivalent unless they request otherwise. The Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly distribution will be based on the Bank of Canada daily average exchange rate on the record date or, if the record date falls on a weekend or holiday, on the Bank of Canada daily average exchange rate of the preceding business day.

Registered unitholders who are residents in Canada who wish to receive a U.S. dollar distribution and registered unitholders who are residents in the United States wishing to receive the Canadian dollar distribution equivalent should contact Brookfield Renewable's transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada, in writing at 100 University Avenue, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2Y1 or by phone at 1-800-564-6253. Beneficial unitholders (i.e., those holding their units in street name with their brokerage) should contact the broker with whom their units are held.

Distribution Reinvestment Plan

Brookfield Renewable Partners maintains a Distribution Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP”) which allows holders of BEP units who are residents in Canada to acquire additional LP units by reinvesting all or a portion of their cash distributions without paying commissions. Information on the DRIP, including details on how to enroll, is available on our website at www.bep.brookfield.com/stock-and-distribution/distributions/drip.

Additional information on Brookfield Renewable's distributions and preferred share dividends can be found on our website at www.bep.brookfield.com.

Brookfield Renewable

Brookfield Renewable operates one of the world's largest publicly traded platforms for renewable power and sustainable solutions. Our renewable power portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar and storage facilities and our sustainable solutions assets include our investment in a leading global nuclear services business and a portfolio of investments in carbon capture and storage capacity, agricultural renewable natural gas, materials recycling and eFuels manufacturing capacity, among others.

Investors can access the portfolio either through Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP; TSX: BEP.UN), a Bermuda-based limited partnership, or Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BEPC), a Canadian corporation. Further information is available at https://bep.brookfield.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Brookfield Renewable is the flagship listed renewable power and transition company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager headquartered in New York, with over $1 trillion of assets under management.

Please note that Brookfield Renewable's previous audited annual and unaudited quarterly reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”) and securities regulators in Canada, are available on our website at https://bep.brookfield.com, on SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and on SEDAR+'s website at www.sedarplus.ca. Hard copies of the annual and quarterly reports can be obtained free of charge upon request.

Conference Call and Quarterly Earnings Details

Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Renewable's First Quarter 2025 Results as well as the Letter to Unitholders and Supplemental Information on Brookfield Renewable's website at https://bep.brookfield.com.

To participate in the Conference Call on May 2, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. ET, please pre-register at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI0ad41a67049d49af9f8c6ea3001fc657. Upon registering, you will be emailed a dial-in number and unique PIN. The Conference Call will also be Webcast live at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/edtk6dcy.