Earnings energised

Contact Energy says its operating earnings during the past four months are ahead of last year. The company, which has simplified its business to improve its retail and generation margins, generated 3158 GWh of electricity in the four months through October, about 8 per cent more than the year before. Average prices for that output were 55 per cent higher at $133.42 per megawatt hour. The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and changes in financial instruments in the financial year to date are higher than the prior comparative period, chief executive Dennis Barnes said in notes for a presentation to investors. “Our flexible generation portfolio and stored gas reserves saw an increase in merchant sales to support the market during the recent high-priced periods as the market responded to gas field outages and lower national hydro storage levels,” he said.