Sunday, May 13, 2012

(This story was originally published Thursday.)

--First-quarter profits rise more than three-fold on year

--Spending to fund organic growth and opportunistic acquisitions

--Company has taken care of 2012 financing needs

By Nikhil Lohade and Asa Fitch

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA.AD), better known as Taqa, is planning $2.25 billion of capital expenditures this year after posting a more than three-fold rise in first-quarter net profit as a result of higher oil prices and gains from the disposal of non-core assets in Canada.

Taqa made a first-quarter net profit of 534 million U.A.E. dirhams ($145.5 million) attributable to owners of the parent, up from AED152 million a year earlier, the company said in financial statements posted on the Abu Dhabi bourse website Thursday.

The energy company's profits were boosted by increased revenues as a result of higher oil prices, stronger production in the U.K.'s North Sea, increased power revenues in the U.A.E., and the gain on the disposal of North American non-core assets.

Taqa, which is majority owned by the state-owned Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, said it disposed of certain non-core assets in Canada, which resulted in a gain of AED378 million during the quarter.

The disposals, however, have not slowed Taqa's plans to grow organically by expanding capacity at its existing energy facilities. The company is also pursuing a strategy of opportunistically buying assets in the Middle East and North Africa, including a venture this year in Iraq's Kurdistan region where Taqa is buying half of a 1,000-megawatt power station.

"We plan for more spending than last year," chief executive Carl Sheldon said in a conference call, adding that Taqa's capital expenditures program called for about $2 billion of outlays per year through 2014.

Taqa is among several Persian Gulf private and sovereign companies that have used cash generated from high oil prices to buy cheap foreign assets to extend their influence outside the region.

Revenues during the first three months of the year reached AED5.74 billion, up from AED5.48 billion in the year before period, according to the statement.

"The first quarter of 2012 has seen steady performance from our portfolio of assets, against the backdrop of a stronger global oil price and weak North American gas prices," Sheldon said in a statement.

The company has satisfied its funding needs for the year after selling $1.5 billion of bonds last year and issuing $215 million of Malaysian ringgit-denominated debt in February, Taqa executives added.

Taqa shares last traded flat at AED1.20 Thursday.

-By Nikhil Lohade and Asa Fitch, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1694; nikhil.lohade@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

13-05-12 0344GMT