TAQA Q1 net profit soars on assets sale

TAQA Q1 net profit soars on assets sale

Q1 profit 534 mln dhs vs 152 mln dhs; Gain of 378 mln dhs on sale of Canada assets; Shares rise 4.2 pct in Abu Dhabi trade; Iraq power plant deal in Q2

May 12, 2012 7:56 by kippreport

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA), a state-owned oil explorer and power supplier, said quarterly net profit more than tripled, helped by a gain selling non-core Canadian assets.

TAQA, 75-percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, said on Thursday it made a first-quarter profit of 534 million dirhams ($145 million), including 378 million from the Canadian disposals. Revenue rose five percent to 5.7 billion dirhams.

The results included a one-off gain of 92 million dirhams from a change in fair value of its Otter field acquisition in the North Sea.

TAQA plans to seal a deal on acquiring 50 percent of a power plant in the Kurdish region of Iraq in the second quarter, chief executive Carl Sheldon said on a conference call.

Last month, TAQA said it agreed to take a stake in a 1,000 megawatts power plant in a joint venture with Mass Global Investments Company.

TAQA, which plans to spend about $2.2 billion in capital expenditure this year, has adequate cash and credit lines to meet its funding requirements this year. “There are big repayments next year, we will look at the next 6-12 months about what decisions those would be,” Sheldon said.

Earlier this month, TAQA said it planned to start work on its delayed gas storage project in the Netherlands in July following approval from the government.

TAQA shares were up 4.2 percent at 0640 GMT. ($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams) (Reporting By Stanley Carvalho, Editing by Dinesh Nair)

By Stanley Carvalho