Orion delivers strong 2018 Annual Result

4 July 2018

Orion delivers strong 2018 Annual Result

Christchurch-based electricity distribution company, Orion New Zealand Limited, delivered another year of strong results and sustained growth in customer numbers in its Annual Results for 2018.

The company today announced that it had made a $53m profit after tax for the year ended 31 March 2018, $6m above the company’s Statement of Intent (SOI) target.

Orion Chief Executive, Rob Jamieson said, “We welcomed three thousand new customers to our network this year, driven by thriving new subdivisions in Wigram, Prestons, Lincoln and Rolleston. We now have more than 201,000 customers.”

The company also announced that it had completed its post-earthquake recovery work.

“It’s more than seven years since the Canterbury earthquakes and we are pleased to report our earthquake recovery programme is now complete, a year ahead of our 2019 target.

“Our work to restore and rebuild electricity services to quake damaged Christchurch has delivered a revitalised and resilient network,” says Jamieson.

“Our borrowings have increased by $26m to $275m this year, largely due to our capital expenditure programme for our post-earthquake recovery.”

The company paid a $55m fully-imputed dividend to its community shareholders during the year – Christchurch City Holdings Limited for Christchurch City Council, and Selwyn District Council. This was $3m above the SOI target, and the same as the dividend paid in 2017.

“We are pleased to be able to make sustainable contributions to the communities we serve to support the region’s growth and renewal.

“Our robust financial performance continues to reflect our long term commitment to prudent asset management, controlling our costs closely, and sound investment in the future of our network,” says Jamieson.

The Commerce Commission sets measures for network reliability around the frequency and duration of power outages, and Orion is on a glide path downwards to achieve increasingly stringent levels of reliability by 2019. This financial year was the fourth in a row that Orion met its post-quake reliability targets.

“Our network’s ability to meet these reliability targets is a testament to our continued investment in our network through proactive renewal and maintenance.

“It’s exciting to lead a team that excels in asset management and provides the necessary confidence to our community.”

ENDS

For further information, refer to Orion Annual Report 2018

Key figures are:

Financial

• $53m profit after tax

• $55m fully-imputed dividends to community shareholders

• $182m electricity distribution revenue

• $58m network operating expenditure

• $80m group capital expenditure

• $275m borrowings

• $1,180m group assets

Network

• 201,000 customer connections

• 3,300 gigawatt hours of electricity delivered

• 633 megawatts of maximum network demand

• 79 minutes of network outages per customer

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