KEY POINTS:
Infrastructure investor Infratil has reported a 49 per cent fall in first half net profit to $12.5 million.
The reduction in the six months to September 30 compared to $24.6 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.
It followed a rise in interest costs to $68.9m from $31m, with Infratil saying today that $20m of the interest increase reflected the consolidation of TrustPower.
Depreciation and amortisation was $35.9m, up from $19.8m.
Earnings for the six months before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, realisations and impairments, and fair value movements of financial instruments (ebitdaf), was $165m, from $69m a year earlier, Infratil said.
The operating surplus was $82.2m from $29.3m.
Infratil has a majority stake in power company TrustPower, owns Glasgow Prestwick, Kent International and Lubeck airports, two-thirds of Wellington International Airport and a small share in Auckland International Airport. It also has investments in NZ Bus and stakes in Australian power generators and retailers.
The company is to pay a fully imputed interim dividend of 2.5 cents per share.
Infratil said that as a long-term investor, it considered each of its core investment sectors would deliver attractive returns.
The global trend to renewable energy and public transport was only starting, air travel was increasingly within reach of the world's growing middle classes, and restructuring of the Australian energy sector continued, the company said.
"Infratil's businesses are continuing to build long term value through efficient operations and providing excellent services in a manner which ensures widespread community support."
Developments during the half-year illustrated the disparate nature of its businesses and the relative complexity in measuring their performance, Infratil said.
As at September 30 debt comprised 42 per cent of Infratil's capitalisation. That reduced to 39 per cent if the proceeds of the October issue of partly paid shares was included.
The issue of new shares was undertaken to ensure Infratil was well placed to be able to take advantage of opportunities should current financial market volatility result in further deterioration.
With that possibility in mind, the company had started to purchase hedges against equity market risk, with $1.5m of those hedges expensed during the half year, Infratil said.
Infratil shares closed at $2.93 on Friday, having ranged between $2.26 and $3.25 in the past year.
The company said today that from next June it would stop issuing quarterly reports and work to upgrade the quality and materiality of its monthly reports.
Reporting had been done quarterly since 2004, but that frequency had attracted some negative feedback from share analysts and institutional investors.
Investors and financial analysts interviewed said the two quarterly reports were not of particular benefit, given the ongoing information Infratil provided about its operations, Infratil said.
- NZPA
