Adopts new IFRS accounting rules, which require non-cash movements in the fair value of financial instruments
New Zealand-based power utility Meridian Energy has reported an underlying profit of NZD85m for the first six months ended December 31, 2008, compared to NZD99.9m for the same period of 2007.
The company has said that the result, after accounting for unrealized revaluations of financial instruments under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is a loss of NZD20.5m, for the six months ended December 31, 2008.
Meridian has adopted the new IFRS accounting rules, which require non-cash movements in the fair value of financial instruments, such as electricity and financial derivatives, to be recorded in the profit and loss statement, if hedge accounting is not applied.
Tim Lusk, CEO of Meridian Energy, said: We are pleased to report a strong underlying profit following what has been a challenging time for the energy industry in New Zealand. It means the company is on track to deliver a positive underlying earnings result for the year.
We have been working on a number of new initiatives to enhance the customer experience. We installed an additional 25,700 smart meters in Canterbury, enabling customers to better manage their electricity usage and more than 8,500 customers have registered for the new My Meridian customer portal.