Aug 10 (Reuters) – AGL Energy (AGL.AX) posted a 25% rise in its full-year profit on Thursday, as higher plant availability improved power generation and strong performance at its natural gas assets boosted earnings, sending shares of the Australian company up 1.5%.
Earnings for the country’s top power producer improved in the second half of the fiscal, owing to continued organic customer growth across its energy and communications segments, and increased plant availability.
AGL, which also sells retail power to one-sixth of Australians, reported underlying profit of A$281 million ($183.52 million) in the six months ended June 30, well above the A$225 million reported last year.
That compares with a Visible Alpha consensus of A$269 million and the company’s forecast of between A$255 million and A$285 million.
On a statutory basis, AGL reported a loss after tax of A$1.26 billion versus a profit of A$860 million a year ago, owing to one-off charges from targeted earlier closure of thermal assets.
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Shares of the power producer were trading at a one-week high of A$11.75.
Chief Executive Officer Damien Nicks forecast positive momentum from higher plant availability to continue into fiscal 2024. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2024 underlying net profit expectations of between A$580 million and A$780 million.
“FY24 guidance as well as comments around wholesale pricing for FY25 is encouraging for medium term earnings,” analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
“While there has been some weakness in FY25 forward curves recently, things would have to be a lot weaker for a lot longer to significantly impact AGL’s realised wholesale price.”
AGL, also the country’s top carbon emitter, declared a final dividend of 23 Australian cents per share, up from 10 cents from the prior year.
AGL, which last year outlined plans to spend up to A$20 billion on renewable energy by 2036, said it had increased its renewable generation development pipeline by 60% over the past six months to 5.3 giga-watts.
($1 = 1.5312 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo and Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
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