Airport spurs loss for Infratil Aust

By Mark Reynolds

A move to equity-account stakes in some major infrastructure investments has caused Infratil Australia to record an overall loss of $A16.2 million ($19 million) for its June financial year.

The losses are mainly due to the company sharing the burden of depreciation, amortisation and interest payments incurred by its 49.5 per cent-owned Perth International Airport venture.

The losses had no impact on Infratil Australia's shareholder value or distributions, the company said. At parent company level, Infratil Australia's earnings rose 9 per cent to $A8.1 million while the full-year dividend payment for shareholders increased 28 per cent to 2.3Ac a share.

Chairman Martin Kriewaldt said earnings from all of the company's investments were ahead of budget.

"If Infratil Australia were structured as a trust it would have reported a net profit of $A48 million for the year," he said.

However, the filed accounts show consolidated earnings before equity accounting were $A283,000 in the June year, down from $A4.1 million a year earlier. The post-equity accounting loss of $A16.2 million compared with a loss of $A9.6 million a year earlier.

The group's net tangible asset backing slipped to 85Ac a share from 97Ac a year earlier.

The company's main assets are the Perth Airport holding, a 51 per cent share of Northern Territory Airport, 50.2 per cent of electricity generator and trader Southern Hydro and 100 per cent of Port of Portland.

The Southern Hydro operations recorded a $A2.2 million loss for the year, but that was better than a budgeted loss of $A6.3 million.