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Lloyd Morrison's Infratil has taken advantage of a dip in the share price of newly listed Australian electricity retailer Energy One to lift its stake in the company to 13.6 per cent.
Infratil Australia paid about A$2.6 million for 2.9 per cent of Energy One last month after the company's share price tumbled as a result of an earnings downgrade.
Energy One, which operates in Queensland and NSW and has more than 10,000 customers, blamed the downgrade on higher spot electricity prices and higher hedging costs in the March quarter.
Infratil executive director Bruce Harker said Energy One was complementary to Infratil Australia's Victoria Electricity business.
"Energy One is a little more concentrated in the small, medium enterprise market whereas Victoria Electricity's more in the mass market residential."
Victoria Electricity has been growing rapidly, almost doubling customers in the nine months to December to just under 150,000.
Infratil recently acquired options to lift its ownership of Victoria Electricity from 58 per cent to 100 per cent. It must decide whether to exercise those options by the end of this month.
Infratil has been pursuing investment opportunities in Australia's electricity generation and retailing sector, which it believes has considerable potential because of ongoing deregulation. Earlier this year it expanded its Australian energy portfolio with the purchase of a controlling stake in Western Australian retailer Perth Energy.
Adding to Tuesday's 8c gain, Infratil shares rose 4c yesterday to reach a fresh closing high of $5.89.
