Taqa 9-month net income surges 53% on higher commodity prices

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, popularly known as Taqa, on Monday said its net income surged 53 per cent to Dh6.5 billion during the first nine months of 2022 while group revenue climbed 14 per cent to Dh38.7 billion due to higher commodity prices within the oil and gas segment.

In a statement, the Abu Dhabi-based one of the largest listed integrated utilities in the region, attributed its strong performance in January-September 2022 to stable contracted and regulated utilities business and buoyant commodity prices.

It further said adjusted EBITDA rose 15 per cent to Dh16.5 billion, benefiting from strong revenue growth while capital expenditure declined by 28 per cent to Dh2.5 billion due to lower spend in the transmission and distribution segment.

The group’s free cash flow position also improved 13 per cent to Dh12.8 billion due to higher cash generation and lower capital expenditures. Cash, cash equivalents and undrawn corporate credit facilities amounted to Dh24.7 billion at the end of the nine-month period.

Jasim Husain Thabet, Taqa’s group chief executive officer and managing director, said the first nine-months of 2022 saw Taqa Group deliver another set of strong financial results, reflecting strong performance across all our businesses.

“I am also pleased to note that we have continued to demonstrate our commitment to our growth strategy and ESG. Last year, when Taqa launched its growth strategy for 2030, we committed to becoming a company anchored in ESG principles, and we have delivered on this promise by announcing our 2030 ESG strategy, including interim greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reductions targets,” Thabet said.

“Under this strategy, we have committed to a 25 per cent reduction of scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030 across the Group, including a 33 per ent reduction of UAE portfolio emissions compared to the 2019 baseline. This is a commitment to absolute emissions reductions and a credible step towards achieving our net-zero ambitions by 2050,” he said.

Operational highlights

Taqa further said its transmission network availability for power and water was slightly improved to 98.6 per cent compared to 98.3 per cent in the prior-year period. Generation global commercial availability was 97.8 per cent, slightly higher than the 97.3 per cent figure in the same period last year while oil and gas average production volumes were 123.1 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), largely in line with the same period last year.

Upon approving the period’s financial results, Taqa’s board of directors also declared an interim cash dividend of Dh675 million (0.60 fils per share). This will be the third quarterly dividend payment planned for the financial year of 2022, in line with the company’s dividend policy.

While highlighting other highlights during the third quarter, Thabet said the group announced the successful financial close of a $3.8 billion strategic first-of its-kind project to power and significantly decarbonise Adnoc’s offshore production operations. “We also signed agreements to invest, alongside Mubadala, in the privatization of two gas-fired power generation plants in the Talimarjan complex in Uzbekistan, representing another credible milestone towards our commitment to deliver 15GW of new international capacity by 2030.

“We also refinanced our $3.5 billion revolving credit facility allowing us to extend the final maturity date of the facility from 2024 to 2027 whilst also reducing cost, as well as completing the $1.09 billion long-term refinancing of the MIRFA International Power & Water Plant,” he said

“On the oil and gas front, we successfully concluded our strategic review of our operations and concluded that we would retain the majority of our assets, whilst entering binding agreements with Waldorf Energy Netherlands BV to sell the upstream oil and gas business in the Netherlands. 2022 is shaping up to be one of TAQA’s most productive years to date and I am confident that we will continue on this trajectory for the remainder of the year,” he said.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com

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