The 2004 result included an after-tax gain of $57.3 million from the sale of Alinta's shareholding in Uecomm Ltd. Excluding this gain, Alinta’s normalised net profit after tax from operations was $84.8 million, an increase of 8.7% over the comparable number for the previous year.
Total revenue grew to $1,160.7 million however this figure included $155.0 million in sales proceeds from the Uecomm investment. Underlying operating revenue increased by 70% over 2003 to $954.7 million, said Alinta chairman Tony Howarth.
“The execution of Alinta’s growth strategy over the last two years has been the major catalyst for the strong upward trend in our financial performance,” Howarth said.
“The Duke and DBNGP acquisitions during 2004 and the Aquila acquisition from 2003 have seen our earnings move up to a new level and they provide an excellent base for further growth. The profitable sale of our shareholding in Uecomm in July represented the final phase of the highly successful Aquila transactions.
“While these transactions have been executed, we have maintained a focus on our existing portfolio of businesses which have continued to deliver very strong results.”
Alinta said it expected 2005 net profit to be in the range of $85-90 million before the adoption of international accounting standards.
The company said it expected to be able to maintain fully franked dividends for 2005 and 2006, and dividend distributions in relation to the 2005 financial year were likely to remain at least at the 42% level paid in respect of 2004.
