Australia’s largest electricity and gas retail business has booked a 45 per cent fall in profit, but the group still considers it a solid result.
Origin Energy’s bottom-line net profit for the half-year ended December 31 fell to $557 million, after revenue growth of nine per cent to $8 billion.
Its underlying result, which excludes one-off items, was also lower at $593 million, from $924 million in the prior first half.
“Origin’s first half results are solid,” chief executive Frank Calabria said in a statement on Thursday.
“We have delivered more than 10 consecutive halves of customer growth, further building on Origin’s leading retail position, reflecting the strength of our brand and customer solutions, including a refreshed suite of battery products.”
The lower profit came after underlying earnings for Origin’s gas business dropped, although this was partly offset by the energy markets division, which improved.
However, Mr Calabria acknowledged many of Origin’s energy customers are still facing cost of living pressures, with bills remaining high.
“Good power station reliability and strong contributions from renewables and batteries have helped to ease wholesale electricity prices,” he said.
“Other factors will drive the final bill outcome for our customers, particularly network costs, but any reduction in the various components of the bill helps.”
Origin also upgraded its earnings guidance for the full year and now expects earnings – before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – of between $1.55 billion and $1.75 billion.
It was previously forecasting earnings between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion.
Origin declared a first-half dividend of 30 cents per share, unchanged from last year.
https://thewest.com.au/business/finance/cost-of-living-sparks-power-providers-profit-fall-c-21611504
