Ann: HALFYR: MEL: Meridian Energy Interim Results

• Release Date: 16/02/12 11:00
• Summary: HALFYR: MEL: Meridian Energy Interim Results to 31 December 2011
• Price Sensitive: No
• Download Document  4.09KB

					

MEL
16/02/2012 09:00
HALFYR

REL: 0900 HRS Meridian Energy Limited

HALFYR: MEL: Meridian Energy Interim Results to 31 December 2011

Meridian Energy reports a stable interim result despite difficult trading
conditions

For release at: 9am 16 February 2012

Today, Meridian Energy reported an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of
$98.9 million for the interim period, which represents a $24.5 million (20%)
reduction on the same period last year.

The bulk of this reduction in underlying NPAT relates to lost generation
revenue following the sale of the Tekapo hydro stations ($23.4 million net of
operating costs before tax) and proceeds from the New Zealand Aluminium
Smelter settlement that improved last year's result ($28.1 million net of
legal costs before tax). Excluding these impacts underlying NPAT increased by
13% on the prior year. Given the challenging trading conditions, this
represents a stable financial result.
These impacts, along with non-cash fair value accounting movements on
financial instruments ($59.3 million increase on last year), have contributed
to an NPAT result of $9.2 million - a reduction of $75.5 million (89%) from
the same period last year.

The six-month period was characterised by below average inflows into
Meridian's South Island catchments and conservative use of water, resulting
in rising average wholesale prices.
Wholesale conditions were also influenced by a number of transmission outages
supporting Transpower's upgrade of the high-voltage direct-current (HVDC)
link between the North and South Islands. Meridian's integrated business
model and robust risk management practices have helped Meridian meet these
challenges.
Mark Binns Meridian Energy's Chief Executive says, "Meridian has achieved a
sound financial performance during a challenging period".

Meridian and Powershop retail brands increased their customer base by 10,381
installation control points (ICPs), equating to a 4% increase in total since
30 June 2011. Powershop, in particular, showed strong growth, increasing its
customer base by 25% and being ranked first in Deloitte's Fast 50 index for
New Zealand. Both retail brands performed well in customer satisfaction
surveys carried out by Consumer NZ and Fair Go.
Meridian has a strong pipeline of renewable generation options at various
stages of development, in New Zealand and internationally. Construction of
the 420 megawatt Macarthur wind farm, a joint venture with AGL in Australia,
is progressing well and is on-track to be generating first power by the end
of the financial year.

"Meridian offers multiple future growth opportunities and, with the prospect
of mixed ownership, will bring a unique and sizable renewable proposition to
potential investors," says Mr Binns.
A decision by the Board on the level of interim dividend for the six-months
ended 31 December 2011 will be announced before the end of April.

ENDS
For further information contact:
Amy Lockyer - External Communications
Meridian Energy  021 722 393

About Meridian Energy
Meridian is New Zealand's largest electricity generator and currently owns
and operates seven hydro stations, four wind farms within New Zealand, and
one wind farm in Australia:
- Manapouri power station and six hydro stations on the Waitaki River in the
South Island
- Te Apiti wind farm near Palmerston North
- White Hill wind farm in Southland
- West Wind farm in Wellington
- Te Uku wind farm in Raglan
- Mt Millar wind farm, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
- CalRENEW-1 solar farm in Mendota, California

Internationally, Meridian has operations in Sydney Australia and San
Francisco, California.

Meridian also retails electricity to around 280,000 individual customer
connections (including Powershop) throughout New Zealand, which includes
households, farms and businesses. It also provides electricity to New
Zealand's single largest electricity user, the Rio Tinto Alcan New Zealand
Limited aluminium smelter in Bluff.

Meridian invests strongly in renewable energy development and has over 1,500
megawatts of Australasian development opportunities in the development
pipeline.
End CA:00219585 For:MEL    Type:HALFYR     Time:2012-02-16 09:00:06