Italy's ERG posts 4% drop in fourth-quarter profits, sees slight increase in 2021

(Reuters) - Adjusted core earnings at renewable energy group ERG fell 4% in the fourth quarter, as a slight growth in the solar power sector and an uptick in energy prices were not enough to offset the impact of adverse wind and water conditions.

In a statement on Friday, the Italian company said that fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 119 million euros ($142.11 million), while adjusted revenues fell 2.7% to 253 million euros.

The Genoa-based group, one of Europe's top wind power players with nearly 2 gigawatts of installed capacity and wind farms in several countries, expects 2021 EBITDA of between 480-500 million euros, compared with 481 million last year, and forecasts investments of between 235-275 million euros, mainly in greenfield projects in Great Britain, Poland and France.

ERG plans to present an update to its 2021-2025 business plan when it releases results for the first quarter, with Chief Executive Officer Luca Bettonte adding the company looked "with confidence" towards a gradual and definitive exit from the pandemic this year.

The green energy firm, founded in 1938 and more than 60% owned by Italy's Garrone-Mondini family, added it would propose to distribute a dividend of 0.75 euros per share.

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni, editing by Agnieszka Flak)