Mercury NZ Reports Record Profits in Fiscal 2023

Mercury NZ, based in Auckland, announced a record underlying profit for fiscal 2023. This impressive result was attributed to the successful integration of Trustpower's retail business and the highest annual hydro generation in New Zealand's Waikato River catchment in almost thirty years.

The company's normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization, and fair value adjustments (Ebitdaf) reached NZ$841 million ($499 million), exceeding the earlier guidance of NZ$795 million provided to investors. This represents a significant increase of 45%.

Although the statutory net profit experienced a decline of 78% to NZ$103 million, compared to NZ$469 million the previous year, this can be attributed to a large gain on the sale of Tilt Renewables' shareholding in the prior period.

Despite challenges faced in geothermal generation due to planned and unplanned outages at its Kawerau and Rotokawa stations, Mercury NZ's hydro generation recorded an impressive growth of 42%, totaling 5,209 gigawatt hours for fiscal 2023. Furthermore, the acquisition of Trustpower's retail division contributed to the expansion of Mercury NZ's retail business.

Vince Hawksworth, Chief Executive of Mercury NZ, expressed his satisfaction with the positive results, stating, "This year we realize the full benefits of large-scale investments made over the past two years to grow our renewable generation and customer business."

Looking ahead, Mercury NZ expects Ebitdaf to reach NZ$835 million in the 2024 fiscal year and anticipates an annual dividend of 23.3 NZ cents per share. This would mark the company's 16th consecutive year of ordinary dividend increases.