Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has posted a net profit of Dh287 million ($78.1 million) for the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 618 per cent as compared to net profit of Dh40 million in 2009.

Taqa benefited from an increase in commodity prices which resulted in a 38 per cent year on year increase in upstream and midstream revenues in the quarter, which stood at Dh2,550 as against Dh1,845 in Q1 of 2009.

The utilities company posted total revenues of Dh4,776 million in Q1, 2010, up 14 per cent from that of 2009 (Dh4,200).

This performance was supported by stable revenues in the power and water business. Combined with flat cost of sales, this resulted in a significant increase in net profit after minority interests.

“We have seen a marked improvement in revenues and profit for the first quarter of 2010, as our upstream operations have benefited from the recovery in commodity prices,” said Carl Sheldon, general manager of Taqa.

“At the same time, our power and water business has continued to deliver stable revenues and cash flow and has operated at a high level of technical availability,” he added.

“Operationally, during the first quarter of 2010, we have continued to focus on the optimisation of our assets, particularly in Taqa North where we have conducted a well by well review, as well as drilling three new wells in the Horn River Basin.”

“We continue to make excellent progress with our organic growth projects, including signing an MOU with the Ghanaian Government for the expansion of Takoradi, and selecting a preferred EPC bidder for the expansion of Jorf Lasfar in Morocco,” Sheldon continued.

“Following the close of the quarter, we have welcomed Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi to the team with his appointment as chief executive officer. His experience, both as a board member of Taqa and in his other roles for major Abu Dhabi based companies, will be a tremendous asset to Taqa and our shareholders,” Sheldon concluded.

Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi said: “We can see the inherent robustness of Taqa’s model coming through in this quarter’s performance, as our upstream business was able to capture the rebound in global commodity prices to add to the solid foundation of our power and water businesses.” – TradeArabia News Service