Oz APA Profit Up 9%
Australian gas infrastructure company APA’s net profit for the 12-months to June (FY 2019) was up 8.8% year on year to A$288mn (US$195mn), it said August 21 in a statement.
Revenue increased by A$89.6mn to A$2.03bn, an increase of 4.6% on the previous year. The increase is primarily as a result of full and part-year contributions from new assets commissioned throughout FY 2018 and FY 2019 and favourable exchange rates in relation to revenues received from the Wallumbilla Gladstone pipeline contracts, the company said.
“In a year characterised by uncertainty around the CKI proposal, APA’s solid results demonstrate the resilience of our business and the robustness of our growth strategy. The 4.6% increase in revenue, as a result of contributions from newly commissioned assets, shows the early benefits of our capital investment to meet our customers’ needs for more capacity and infrastructure,” APA managing director Rob Wheals said.
APA said that over the last three years, it has undertaken the largest capital investment programme in company’s history, investing over A$1.4bn in new projects. This has resulted in 260 kilometres of additional pipelines being added to APA’s footprint and its power generation capacity being expanded by more than 300 MW, including over 275 MW of renewable energy assets, it added.
“Most significant for Australia’s tight east coast gas market, is the impending connection of a new offshore gas supply source in Victoria with the expected commencement of commercial operations of APA’s Orbost Gas Processing Plant in the fourth quarter of calendar 2019,” APA said.
Commenting on APA’s outlook Wheals said, “It is pleasing that the growth projects we announced back in FY 2017 are now all commissioned with the exception of the Orbost Gas Processing Plant, which is due for commissioning in the fourth quarter of this calendar year. This means we can look forward to increased earnings and operating cash flow (OCF) in FY 2020 and beyond.”
The levels of OCF APA sees in the business in FY 2020 and beyond, Wheals said, will enable the company to continue funding expected growth capital expenditure of A$300 to $400mn/year over the next two to three years.