News: AGL UPDATE 1-Australia's AGL posts 24.9% jump in FY profit; beats estimates

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Aug 10 (Reuters) - Australia's AGL Energy (AGL) reported a 24.9% rise in its full-year profit on Thursday, as it saw improved performance in its power generation and natural gas assets.

The country's top power producer saw improvement in customer services across both energy and communications segments in its fiscal second half ended June 30, as it overcame challenges from volatile energy markets and outages seen in the first half.

The company reported an underlying profit of A$281 million ($183.52 million) in the six months ended June 30, well above A$225 million reported a year earlier.

That compared with a Macquarie estimate of A$275 million and the company's forecast of between A$255 million and A$285 million.

The Melbourne-based company also reaffirmed its full-year 2024 forecast range for underlying net profit of between A$580 million and $780 million.

It declared a final dividend of 23 Australian cents per share, up from 10 cents per share from the prior year.

($1 = 1.5312 Australian dollars)