AGL powers to healthy profit as bills bite

AGL Energy says wholesale electricity costs have fallen and it could feed through to electricity bills, offering hope to beleaguered households as the company defended half-year profits jumping 359 per cent.

Net profit for the six months ended December 31 totalled $399m, up 359 per cent from the $87m reported during the same period one year earlier.

The result was above market forecasts for six-month profits to total around $340m.

The result sent shares up more than 11 per cent as investors cheered the result.

The returns will also buoy confidence that AGL can fund the transition of its business away from its coal dependency while maintaining lucrative returns for shareholders, though it will flame public perception of lucrative returns by retailers in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.

The 187-year-old company said it expected full-year profits to hit a high as it narrowed annual profits to between $680m and $780m.

It previously said it expected full-year profits to sit between $580m and $780m.

AGL’s latest financial result comes just weeks ahead of the Australian Energy Regulator announcing its next default market offer. Australian households have endured bill increases of more than 20 per cent for the past two years.

The default market offer is calculated annually, with the Australian Energy Regulator considering the wholesale cost of electricity, the toll of transporting electricity and the cost of compliance with government rules and regulations.

AGL did not provide any forecasts for 2025.