Power prices: Manawa on trading halt, expects lower earnings guidance

Manawa Energy's Cobb Reservoir in the Tasman district. Photo / Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media Services

Power generator Manawa Energy has gone into a trading halt on the NZX while the company reconsiders its earnings outlook for the 2025 year.

It said earnings were likely to be lower than previously advised due in part to “adverse market conditions” in the wholesale energy markets.

The company asked the NZX to keep it on a trading halt until the market opens on Friday, or earlier.

Wholesale power prices have shot sharply higher on the back of low hydro lake levels and constrained gas supply.

Laurie Margrain, chairman of major exporter Open Country Dairy, told the Herald New Zealand had “sleepwalked” into an energy crisis.

And today Oji Fobre Solutions said it might have to close its Penrose plant in Auckland because of punishingly high power prices.

In May, Manawa said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and financial instruments (Ebitdaf) were expected to be in a range of $130million - $150m.

And in May, capital expenditure expected to be in the range of $40m-$50m.

Manawa described itself as one of the country’s biggest renewable energy generators

Today the company, formerly Trustpower, said there was now a likelihood a provision would be necessary due to uncertainty about recovery of a customer receivable.

At Haywards, the price yesterday came to $513.78 per megawatt hour (MWh), up from $194.49 MWh at the start of June.

Manawa Energy is New Zealand’s fifth-largest electricity generator, generating about 9% of total hydro capacity.

The company, 51% owned by Infratil, owns 26 hydropower schemes nationally, with a total installed capacity of 498 megawatts.

The company also cited “adverse market conditions in the wholesale energy markets” as being behind the likely downgrade.