Our integrated approach of positioning the company along the entire value-added chain of the energy industry ensures that our business model remains resilient. We have made sustainability an integral part of our corporate strategy. We continued to pursue our strategic goals by, for example, accelerating the expansion and take-up of renewable energies, expanding the grid infrastructure, starting construction at our fuel switch projects and expanding e-mobility. Organized into three segments, we want to further strengthen our profitability and continuously improve our sustainability performance at the same time. The aim is to make the company climate neutral with respect to our own CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2035.
The operating business at a Group level performed better in 2023 than expected and was above the earnings range forecast made at the start of the year. Adjusted EBITDA increased significantly by 60.4% in comparison to the previous year. The result in the Smart Infrastructure for Customers segment was below the previous year’s level and the forecasted range. However, the fall in earnings in this segment was more than compensated for by positive developments in the other two segments. The adjusted EBITDA for the System Critical Infrastructure segment increased and was within the forecasted range. In addition, the result in the Sustainable Generation Infrastructure segment rose significantly and was at the upper end of the adjusted forecasted range, exceeding the originally forecasted range. While the adjusted EBITDA for the Renewable Energies area was at the same level as in the previous year, earnings in the Thermal Generation and Trading area were significantly higher than in the previous year. Non-operating EBITDA fell considerably in comparison to the previous year. The Group net profit/loss attributable to the shareholders of EnBW AG fell from €1,738.0 million in 2022 by €200.4 million to €1,537.6 million in the reporting year. Earnings per share amounted to €5.68 in the 2023 financial year, compared to €6.42 in the previous year.
The financial position of the company remains sound. Solvency was ensured at all times thanks to the company’s available liquidity and its internal financing capability, as well as external sources available for financing. As of 31 December 2023, net debt had risen by €856.1 million compared to the figure posted at the end of the previous year. This increase was mainly due to the increase in collateral. As a result of the increase in retained cash flow, the debt repayment potential was substantially higher in 2023 than the target value of between 18.0% and 21.0%. The value spread rose to 10.2% and thus exceeded the forecasted range. Gross investment in 2023 was around 56% higher than the level in the previous year. Around 79.9% of overall gross investment was attributable to growth projects.
In the customers and society goal dimension, the Reputation Index fell in 2023 by three index points in comparison to the previous year to 55 points and was thus once again at the same level as in 2021, although below our forecasted range for 2023 of between 57 and 60 points. The Customer Satisfaction Index for EnBW fell by 6.5% in 2023 to a value of 130 but remained at a good level. Despite a slight fall in the satisfaction of its customers, Yello was still able to maintain its index value at an outstanding level. As in the previous year, SAIDI Electricity was within the forecasted range in 2023. In the environment goal dimension, we were able to improve the share of generation capacity accounted for by renewable energies to 46.9%. The CO2 intensity of our own electricity generation fell in comparison to the previous year by 29.3% as a result of an increase in generation from renewable energy sources and the significantly lower deployment of our coal power plants. In the employees goal dimension, the People Engagement Index (PEI) remained at a very high level in comparison with the previous year and with other companies. In the area of occupational safety, the key performance indicators for LTIF fell in comparison to the previous year.
Business at the company developed very positively in 2023. This was primarily attributable to higher income from electricity generation in the Sustainable Generation Infrastructure segment and higher income from the use of the grids in the System Critical Infrastructure segment.