Derivatives gain lifts Manawa

A financial derivatives gain hoisted a trimmed-down power generator Manawa Energy’s net profit to $119.8 million in the March year, the company — formerly Trustpower — said.

The $30.7m improvement was largely due to a non-cash fair value gain on financial instruments in addition to increases in generation production and wholesale prices, the company said.

Manawa sold its retail business to Mercury NZ for $467m earlier this year.

The company announced a final dividend of 16 cents per share and a one-off special dividend of 35 cents per share, unimputed. Operating earnings (ebitdaf) were $204.2m (including the divested retail operations), up from $200.2m last year.

Manawa, which bills itself as New Zealand’s largest independent electricity generator, said it had successfully separated its mass market retail business and had delivered a solid performance in the process.

Retail operations were in strong shape to hand over to Mercury, contributing operating earnings (ebitdaf) of $44.5m, with key highlights including a 5 per cent increase in customers with two or more services, and 93 per cent increase in mobile connections over prior year.