APA boasted an increase of 13.8 per cent ($92.1 million) in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the six months to December 2016 to $759.7 million, compared to the previous corresponding period of $667.6 million.
Net profit after tax jumped 40.5 per cent to $139.8 million, and operating cash flow was also up 12.1 per cent to $518.2 million.
APA spent a total of $162.7 million in capital and investment expenditure over the period, of which $36.5 million was predominantly related to APA’s share of the Mortlake Pipeline acquisition by the SEA Gas (Mortlake) Partnership.
A number of projects have been announced that will see APA continue to invest in growing capacity either through pipeline expansions or other energy infrastructure assets, contributing $1.5 billion in growth capital expenditure over the next three years.
The projects include:
- Continued work on the Victorian-Northern interconnect expansion project;
- Moomba Interconnect project which has increased the efficiency of the operation of APA’s East Coast Gas Grid;
- Construction of the Reedy Creek Wallumbilla Pipeline, a 50 km, bi-directional pipeline connecting the Australia Pacific LNG Pipeline with the Wallumbilla Hub, costing $80 million;
- Construction of the Emu Downs Solar Farm – a 20 MW solar farm;
- Preliminary studies for the construction of the 450 km, $500 million, Western Slopes Pipeline, connecting Santos’ proposed Narrabri Gas Project to APA’s East Coast Grid; and,
- Development of the 130 MW Badgingarra Wind Farm.
“Continued investment and innovation is critical to nation-building and is essential in providing access to reliable, secure and affordable energy,” said APA Managing Director and CEO Mick McCormack.
“It is becoming widely acknowledged that gas is an essential fuel in Australia’s energy mix.
“However, in order to move towards a cleaner energy future, our energy system needs to undergo an overhaul, which involves having some difficult but necessary conversations between government, industry and consumers.
“APA’s focus will continue to be on delivering energy safely, efficinelty and in a sustainable way.
“We will continue to do this through investing in our assets, systems and people to support growth and the evolving needs of our customers.”