Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:
- Net loss $121m vs $191m profit
- Revenue $2.25b vs $2.11b
- Underlying loss $5m vs $175m profit
- Operating earnings $257m vs $443m
- Interim dividend unchanged at 6.15 cents per share
The winter energy crunch took a heavy toll on power company Meridian, which has reported a $121 million half-year loss.
The generator-retailer's earnings were down across the board, which it said was due to the cost of hedge contracts for last winter as it faced a one in 90-year record low hydro inflows, and an "unexpected and unprecedented" domestic gas shortage.
"The combination of particularly low hydro inflows, low wind and gas shortages made the operating environment for the first half of this financial year as tough as I can recall experiencing," Meridian chief executive Neal Barclay said.
"We took a hit for New Zealand. Meridian put this country's security of supply first and as New Zealand's largest renewable electricity generator, our balance sheet tends to underwrite the mitigation of extended droughts, and that's one of the ways the country benefits from having large and financially strong gentailers."
The company was preparing for the 2025 winter and recently signed a new agreement with the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, which has agreed to reduce demand by 50 megawatts.
"The bigger issue, though, is the structural and significant shortage of domestic gas. New Zealand needs to take urgent action to address this. Gas is the biggest factor in setting spot and future electricity prices," Barclay said.
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