Lower yield from capital employed
The return on capital employed has been generally high in recent years, but there was a decline from 2008 to 2009.
ROACE – return on average capital employed - varies in line with the company's operating result, and the return was 15.2 per cent in 2009. This is substantially lower than in 2008.. The decline is due to both lower operating result and higher capital employed. The former is primarily a result of lower power prices, while the increase in capital employed is due to new assets from the asset swap with E.ON AG and the consolidation of SN Power.
The return on the equity fell from 15.6 per cent in 2008 to 10.2 per cent in 2009, while the return on total assets fell from 9.9 per cent to 5.8 per cent during the same period. This is due to lower earnings, as well as higher average equity and total assets as a consequence of the E.ON transaction and the consolidation of SN Power.
