Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, or Taqa, said on Wednesday that net profit for the first quarter of 2010 jumped by a stupendous 618 per cent over the same period last year. Profit for the first three months of this year stood at Dh287 million compared to Dh40 million in the same quarter of 2009.
Taqa said the substantial increase was due to an increase in commodity prices, which resulted in a 38 per cent year on year increase in upstream and midstream revenues in the quarter. The performance was also supported by stable revenues in the power and water business, it said. At the same time, however, there was no significant increase in the cost of sales.
Taqa is a global energy company majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government. It operates in the fields of oil and gas, power generation and water desalination across five continents.
Overall revenues increased by 14 per cent from Dh4.20 billion in Q1-2009 to Dh4.77 billion in Q1-2010, Taqa said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
“Operationally, during the first quarter of 2010, we have continued to focus on the optimisation of our assets, particularly in Taqa North, where we have conducted a well by well review, as well as drilling three new wells in the Horn River Basin,” General Manager Carl Sheldon said in the statement.
“We continue to make excellent progress with our organic growth projects, including signing an agreement with the Ghanaian Government for the expansion of Takoradi, and selecting a preferred bidder for the expansion of Jorf Lasfar in Morocco.’
During the quarter, Taqa also reduced its net debt to capital position to 80 per cent from 85 per cent in the same quarter of 2009.
Three-month revenues from the sale of electricity and water were Dh1.5 billion, a 6 per cent increase compared with Dh1.4 billion in Q1-2009. The increase was primarily due to the expansion of Taweelah A1 which was commissioned in June 2009.
Oil and gas revenues in Q1-2010 were Dh2.2 billion, an increase of Dh0.6 billion over the Dh1.6 billion recorded in Q1 2009. This 39 per cent increase was driven primarily by the increase in commodity prices, Taqa said.
