Drought pulls TrustPower's profits down

By RICHARD BRADDELL

Rapid customer growth and drought have trimmed TrustPower's March year net profit to $23.5 million from $29.5 million last year.

Although the Tauranga-based energy retailer and generator's revenue jumped $79 million to $507.7 million, pre-tax earnings of $33.7 million were hammered by $6.4 million in costs associated with acquiring 46,000 new customers, taking the total to 266,000 at year end and 280,000 now.

Despite the cost of sales being sharply higher that the previous year's $900,000, TrustPower took comfort in an average cost of $115 per new customer, compared with up to $800 paid by competitors.

The impact of drought on the company's 33 hydro generation schemes resulted in an 8 per cent drop in electricity production on a normal year, forcing it to buy in an extra 137 GWh.

TrustPower is to pay an unimputed final dividend of 8c a share.