The Impact of Energy Consumption Costs on the Profitability of Production Companies in Poland in the Context of the Energy Crisis

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the authors’ research on the share of energy costs in revenues and their impact on the profitability of companies. This research was inspired by a large increase in energy prices in 2022. The authors analyzed the shares of energy consumption costs in production companies from various industries, using various sources: scientific literature, expert studies, and statistical data. Based on the results of these analyses, the authors simulated the impact of changes in energy prices on the profitability of companies. The research results are as follows: according to the authors, the share of these costs in the value of sales is much lower (several percent) than presented in various literature sources (a dozen or so, and even up to 30% in some cases). Despite this, however, the change in energy prices should significantly reduce profitability according to the simulations conducted by the authors. However, the financial reports analyzed by the authors show that profitability in many cases not only did not deteriorate, but revenues and profits increased in a large number of companies. In many cases, this can be explained by the actions taken by companies to reduce energy consumption costs and by increases in product prices. The authors’ research also shows that if factors such as the specificity of the industry or the size of the company have an impact on energy efficiency, it is only to a small extent. The share of energy costs in sales and financial results, even within a given industry and in companies of similar size, varies greatly. The authors therefore believe that the effectiveness of the management of a given company has the greatest impact. Therefore, the results of the analysis differ significantly from the results of studies presented in the literature. Energy consumption data were analyzed using various literature sources from different countries. However, the main analyses conducted by the authors focused on Poland.

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“…Moreover, in recent years, further problems have emerged that have impacted energy prices. An example of this was the COVID-19 pandemic because, during it, there were many restrictions related to transport and to ways of working [2,4]. However, no one expected that the current energy crisis would begin with a war in Ukraine [2,4].…”

“…An example of this was the COVID-19 pandemic because, during it, there were many restrictions related to transport and to ways of working [2,4]. However, no one expected that the current energy crisis would begin with a war in Ukraine [2,4]. This conflict caused the prices of raw materials such as natural gas to increase significantly, which resulted in a dynamic increase in electricity prices.…”

“…This applies, in particular, to renewable energy sources and nuclear energy. Among renewable energy sources, solar cells deserve special attention because solar panels directly convert solar energy into electricity [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. During this process, no pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere, and no waste is generated that requires disposal.…”