Meridian Energy's generation declines 5.9% in Q1 FY 2015/16

New Zealand hydro and wind power company Meridian Energy Ltd (NZE:MELCA) on Thursday said it generated 3,406 GWh of electricity from July to September, the first quarter of its current fiscal year, which is 5.9% less than a year ago.

The figure includes 3,035 GWh of hydro and 371 GWh of wind power production.

In the month of September alone, generation declined 7.9% compared with the same month in 2014 to 1,078 GWh, due to lower hydro generation, while wind power output was unchanged. The company said September monthly inflows were 67% of historical average.

Meridian's retail sales volumes rose 5.9% in the three months from the year-ago period to 1,514 GWh. Sales to residential customers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were up 6.4%, while corporate sales increased by 5.1%.

The average price that the company received for its generation during the quarter was 8.9% lower than the same period last year.

In August, Meridian reported a 7% rise in after-tax net profit for the fiscal 2014/15 to NZD 247 million (USD 169.6m/EUR 148.2m).

(NZD 1.0 = USD 0.687/EUR 0.600)

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