KEY POINTS:
Contact Energy expects to meet profit expectations this year as it looks to drive growth through a $2 billion spending programme. Contact is focusing on new geothermal and wind generation projects, while looking to broaden and increase retail returns after last year's exceptional result.
"There's no question ... we're back in the position of growing the business," chief executive David Baldwin said. The company views the estimates analysts have made for the year ending June 2007 as reasonable. Analysts estimates see net profit about $226 million, down about 20 per cent from last year. The company has flagged that the year to June 30 net profit would be "materially lower" than last year's record $280.9 million. That result was buoyed by dry weather, which boosts returns from the hydro-electric plants which provide the bulk of the country's electricity, and a $33.4 million gain from an asset sale.
Contact has 10 power stations and generates almost a third of New Zealand's electricity.
