ESB Group reports profit of €377m during first half of the year 

During the first half of this year, ESB Network’s operating profit hit €246m, up from €115m, primarily due to the impact of Storm Éowyn on operating expenditure

Electricity provider ESB Group has reported a profit after tax of €377m during the first six months of the year with the renewed volatility in the energy markets, due to the war in the Middle East, impacting its generation trading and customer solutions divisions.

Between January and June, ESB Group generated revenue of over €3.3bn. Its profit after tax was up over 20% from the €313m reported during the first half of 2025, however, last year’s profits had been impacted by additional costs in the ESB networks’ businesses due to Storm Éowyn.

The company reported €466m in profit during the first half of 2024.

During the first half of this year, ESB Network’s operating profit hit €246m, up from €115m, primarily due to the impact of Storm Éowyn on operating expenditure. The company’s generation trading division saw an operating profit of €185m, up €21m year-on-year.

“A strong performance from a portfolio of renewable, battery and dispatchable generation assets - reflecting market conditions during a period of relatively high and volatile energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East - was partially offset by the impact of accounting adjustments regarding the valuation of future asset replacement obligations in Ireland,” ESB Group said.

Its customer solutions operating profit fell €11m to €64m this year as energy costs increased.

“While, in the short-term, financial performance and customer retail prices were successfully shielded from the impact of this by customer solution’s hedging strategy, sustained market volatility required the announcement of electricity and gas retail price increases for Electric Ireland residential customers with effect from July 2026.”

Chief financial officer at ESB Group Paul Stapleton said the company is “carrying out the biggest ever investment in Ireland’s electricity infrastructure”, which he said will support the delivery of more homes and economic progress across the country and to “ultimately achieve our Net Zero carbon emissions targets” 

“An investment of this nature and magnitude requires a solid financial footing, and these results underline ESB’s continued robust performance,” he said, adding that €4 was invested in capital projects for every €1 of profit after tax earned so far this year.

Mr Stapleton said the “ongoing volatile global markets and geopolitical uncertainty”, which have caused wholesale energy prices to rise in the first half of 2026, “underlines the importance of reducing Ireland’s dependency on imported oil and gas”.

The company said it has invested €1.5bn in capital projects over the first six months of the year, a €200m increase compared to the same period last year.

“Over €900m of this relates to investment in electricity network infrastructure across the island of Ireland,” the company said. Of that, €500m was invested in electricity generation of which 70% of this was invested in energy projects in onshore, offshore and solar technologies.

ESB is planning a capital investment of around €20bn in the period up to 2030 to deliver an electricity system.

“We remain committed to continued growth in capital investment to ensure a secure and reliable electricity system is in place to support housing, enable economic and social progress, and ultimately achieve our Net Zero carbon emissions targets – the continued financial strength of ESB is crucial to this,” Mr Stapleton said.

ESB Group continues to increase staffing levels to support the ongoing investment in infrastructure, with employee numbers surpassing 10,000 during the first half of the year, mainly in the networks, generation and engineering business units.