Taqa reports net profit of Dh152m

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) said on Wednesday that its net profit for the fiscal first quarter fell 47 per cent on year to Dh152 million due to an increase in taxes for operations in the UK North Sea.

"In mid-March, the UK government announced changes to the tax regime for the UK North Sea which were backdated to 1 January 2011. This contributed to a 53 per cent year-on-year increase in tax, negatively impacting net profit," Taqa said in a mandatory filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), where its shares are listed.

Last year, Taqa's first quarter net income was Dh287 million.

Taqa's shares fell 1.43 per cent yesterday, ending at Dh1.35.

Commenting on Taqa's financial performance, Anastasios Dalgiannakis, Head of Trading at Mubasher Financial Services told Gulf News since foreign institutional investors are not allowed to trade in the company's stock, it's impact on the market sentiments is only marginal.

"Taqa's weight in the ADX index is only 3 per cent and only the UAE nationals are allowed to invest in the stock," he added.

Taqa said total revenues in the first quarter rose 15 per cent on year to Dh5.5 billion. The value of company's total assets at the end of the first quarter rose 23 per cent year-on-year to Dh115.76 billion.

"Total average global daily production for Q1 2011 increased 2 per cent to 138.8 mboe/day, compared with136.7 mboe/day in Q1 2010 and within guidance for FY 2011," it added.

Taqa said its first quarter profit before tax was 11 per cent higher year-on-year, dampened by the effect of foreign exchange losses along with lower derivative gains.

"Taqa has made a solid operational start to 2011, with strong performance from our power and water business and a higher contribution from our oil and gas assets due to a combination of improved commodity pricing and increased production. These positive results also reflect our increased footprint, where new assets - such as Fujairah 2 - are beginning to contribute additional revenues," said Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi, Taqa's chief executive officer.

"Our major organic growth projects in the Netherlands and Morocco have reached significant milestones, while those in Ghana and India have made good progress. In particular, the expected receipt of permits in the Netherlands for operating and constructing Bergermeer in May has enabled us to this week launch the open season for longer-term capacity and start planning the next stage in this flagship project's development," said Carl Sheldon, Taqa's general manager.

"We are intending to sell small assets in our North America portfolio this year. It won't be huge," Taqa's Chief Financial Officer Doug Fraser said on a conference call.

For the first quarter, Taqa's total oil and gas revenues increased 14 per cent on year Dh3 billion driven by the increase in crude oil prices. Total power and water revenues in the same period increased 13 per cent on year to Dh1.7 billion driven by the contribution from Fujairah 2, which was transferred to Taqa in the third quarter of 2010 and fully commissioned in January 2011.

"Shuweihat 2, a 1,500 MW and 100 MIGD plant is currently under construction and is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2011," said Taqa.

Taqa benefited from a 20 per cent gain in oil prices to an average of $94.60 a barrel for benchmark US crude futures during the first three months this year from $78.88 a barrel in the same period of 2010.