8th Mar 2007 07:03
Drax Group PLC08 March 2007 DRAX GROUP PLC (Symbol: DRX) PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2006 - PART ONE (London - 8 March 2007) Drax Group plc ("Drax" or the "Company"), the UK powergenerator, announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2006and reports on key developments to date. Highlights • Underlying business performing well with strong operating and trading performance increasing EBITDA(1) by 144% to £583 million. • EBITDA enhancements substantially achieved 12 months ahead of target. Estimated £45 million of EBITDA enhancements realised in the year ended 31 December 2006. • Proposed final ordinary dividend of 9.1 pence per share; proposed second special dividend of 32.9 pence per share; making total dividend payments for the year of £497 million (equivalent to 134.7 pence per share (3)). • High plant availability placed Drax as the UK's industry leader for the reliable operation of coal-fired plant by a clear margin. • Continued management focus on safety delivered record improvements and a leading performance. • Turbine upgrade announced in December will boost efficiency of the plant to 40% and save one million tonnes of CO2 each year. • Formalised our target to produce 10% of output from biomass by 2009 which is expected to deliver an annual saving of two million tonnes of CO2. Year ended 31 December 2006 compared to year ended 31 December 2005 Year ended 31 December 2006 2005 £ million £ millionTotal revenue 1,387 929Gross profit 746 389EBITDA (1) 583 239Operating profit (2) 658 355Profit before tax 634 264 Pence Pence per share per shareBasic and diluted earnings per share 126 108Proposed final ordinary dividend (3) 9.1 -Proposed special dividend (3) 32.9 - (1) EBITDA is profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, exceptional items and unrealised gains/(losses) on derivative contracts. (2) Operating profit includes exceptional items and IAS 39 mark-to-market adjustments totalling £110 million in 2006 compared to £147 million in 2005. (3) Based on the number of shares in issue as at 31 December 2006. Commenting on the results, Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive of Drax, said: "These results and our achievements in 2006 reflect the benefit from ourstrategy of delivering excellence in plant operations and trading performance;enhancing and diversifying the business, with a focus on fuel optionality andcarbon abatement; and ensuring we have the appropriate financial and humanresources. This strategy will continue in 2007. "We firmly believe that we have an important part to play in the UK's transitiontowards a low carbon economy whilst, at the same time, delivering reliablesupplies of electricity. We continue to work on projects to reduce our carbonemissions and are pleased to announce investments of up to £67 million toincrease our capability to produce 10% of our output from renewable fuels by2009. This is in addition to the £100 million turbine enhancement project whichwe are now implementing. We expect these investments together to save over threemillion tonnes of CO2 emissions each year, equalling the output of around 700wind turbines." --- Forward Looking Statements This announcement may contain certain statements, statistics and projectionsthat are or may be forward-looking. The accuracy and completeness of all suchstatements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the futurefinancial position, strategy, projected costs, plans and objectives for themanagement of future operations of Drax Group plc ("Drax") and its subsidiaries(the "Group") are not warranted or guaranteed. By their nature, forward-lookingstatements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and dependon circumstances that may occur in the future. Although Drax believes that theexpectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurance can begiven that such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a number offactors, many of which are beyond the control of the Group, which could causeactual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed orimplied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are notlimited to, factors such as: future revenues being lower than expected;increasing competitive pressures in the industry; and/or general economicconditions or conditions affecting the relevant industry, both domestically andinternationally, being less favourable than expected. We do not intend topublicly update or revise these projections or other forward-looking statementsto reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, and we do not assumeany responsibility for doing so. --- Management Presentation and Conference Call Management will host a presentation for analysts and investors at 9:00am (UKTime) today, Thursday 8 March 2007, at the City Presentation Centre, 4 ChiswellStreet, Finsbury Square, London, EC1Y 4UP. The meeting can also be accessed remotely via a conference call or alternativelyvia a live webcast, as detailed below. After the meeting, a video webcast andrecordings of the call will be made available and access details for theserecordings are also set out below. A copy of the presentation will be made available from 7:00am (UK time) onThursday 8 March for download at www.draxgroup.plc.uk (>>Financial Results2006). Event Title: Drax Group plc: Full Year ResultsEvent Date: Thursday 8 March 2007Event Time: 9:00am (UK time) UK Call In Number: 020 7162 0125International Call In Number: +44 7162 0125US Call In Number: +1 334 323 6203 Webcast detailsLive Event Link: http://events.webeventservices.com/Drax/2007/03/08/ UK Instant ReplayStart Date: 8 March 2007Delete Date: 7 April 2007Dial In Number: 020 7031 4064Freephone number (UK only): 0800 358 1860Passcode: 737384 US Instant ReplayStart Date: 8 March 2007Delete Date: 7 April 2007Dial In Number: +1 954 334 0342Freephone number: +1 888 365 0240Passcode: 737384 Video WebcastStart Date: 8 March 2007Delete Date: 9 June 2007Archive Link: http://events.webeventservices.com/Drax/2007/03/08/ For further information please contact: On the day Thereafter Dorothy Thompson, Chief ExecutiveGordon Boyd, Finance Director +44 (0)20 7353 4200 +44 (0)1757 618381 Andrew Jones, Investor Relations +44 (0)20 7353 4200 +44 (0)1757 612938 Melanie Wedgbury, Media Contact +44 (0)20 7353 4200 +44 (0)1757 612438 Tulchan CommunicationsDavid Trenchard and Peter Hewer +44 (0) 20 7353 4200 Website: www.draxgroup.plc.uk PART TWO TO FOLLOW This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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