Drax Group plc (DRX) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Thank you and good morning everybody. I appreciate you all joining the call. I'm joined on the call by Frank Lemmink, our CFO. I'll provide an overview of the first half before giving it back to Frank to take you through the numbers. And then I'll take you back, take it back to take you through the progress we're making on our growth strategy and we're then happy to take your questions. We've delivered a good first half performance. underpinned by a continued focus on safe and efficient operations. We provided around 6% of UK power and 10% of UK renewables. In May, we commenced operations of Hirwan Power Station, adding another 300 megawatts to our portfolio. And we continue to upgrade two units at Krookum, which will add a further 40 megawatts. And over the last eight months, we've made tremendous progress on our plans to invest in flexible and renewable generation. adding flex electricity and over 700 megawatts of owned and tolled batteries. Reflecting these developments, we're now targeting an increased group EBITDA from 650 to 800 million in 2029 once those BEZ developments are fully operational. And these numbers are before the proposed acquisition of Bluefield Solar Income Fund, BSEF, or developing any of the further best solar or wind options that we have. At Drax Power Station, we're continuing to develop options to utilize four gigawatts of capacity, including a data center. And as we progress these opportunities, we remain committed to our capital allocation policy and delivering attractive returns for shareholders. So on page four, I want to spend a little bit of time on this slide as it demonstrates how we have repositioned our business. We increasingly manage, by which I mean generate, trade, optimize, or provide route to market or tolling services, many...