Final Results - Part One

Drax Group PLC 04 March 2008 4 March 2008 DRAX GROUP PLC (Symbol: DRX) PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007 - PART ONE Drax Group plc ('Drax' or the 'Company'), the UK power generator, announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2007 and reports on key developments. Highlights •EBITDA(1) of £506 million (2006: £583 million) reflecting a strong trading and operating performance offset by, amongst other things, a weaker electricity market following an exceptionally warm first quarter of 2007, and rising coal prices throughout the year. •Adjusted PBT(3) £439 million (2006: £524 million). •Final ordinary dividend proposed of 9.9 pence per share and special dividend of 7.8 pence per share giving a total of 17.7 pence per share or £60 million. •Returns to shareholders in respect of 2007, by way of dividend and share buy-back, totalling £160 million. •Good delivery on our strategic priorities through the effective alignment of trading, production and investment, in particular: •Leading operating performance amongst UK coal-fired generation plant maintained with plant availability of 86% and high commercial despatch with a load factor of 75%. •Two major planned outages completed, each within 12 weeks. •Winter forced outage rate of 4.2%, better than our challenging long-term target of 4.5%. •Strong trading performance in line with our strategy to match our power sales with corresponding carbon and fuel positions. •Good progress on our major carbon abatement projects. •Capital expenditure target totalling £250 million now planned for the three years 2008 to 2010. Year ended 31 December 2007 compared to year ended 31 December 2006: Year ended 31 December 2007 2006 £ million £ million Total revenue 1,247 1,387 Gross profit 701 746 EBITDA (1) 506 583 Operating profit (2) 471 658 Profit before tax 449 634 Adjusted profit before tax (3) 439 524 Profit after tax 353 464 Pence per share Pence per share Basic and diluted earnings per share (4) 99 116 Proposed final ordinary dividend (5) 9.9 9.1 Declared special dividend (5) 7.8 32.9 Notes: (1) EBITDA is profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, exceptional items and unrealised gains on derivative contracts. (2) Operating profit includes exceptional items and unrealised gains on derivative contracts totalling £10 million (2006: £110 million). (3) Adjusted profit before tax excludes exceptional items and unrealised gains on derivative contracts totalling £10 million (2006: £110 million). (4) During the period the Company has amended the calculation of earnings per share to reflect share consolidations associated with special dividends from the date of consolidation only. Comparatives have been restated accordingly. (5) Based on the number of shares in issue as at 31 December 2007 and 31 December 2006 respectively. Commenting on the performance, Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive of Drax, said: 'Our strategy is to grow shareholder value by exploiting the strategic and commercial value of Drax Power Station and by deploying and developing our core competencies to deliver additional value through fuel diversification and carbon abatement. 'We believe developments in the UK electricity market will present opportunities for Drax to exploit its strategic position as a key generator in the market and to use its competencies in the areas of trading and operations.' ------------------------- Forward Looking Statements This announcement may contain certain statements, statistics and projections that are or may be forward-looking. The accuracy and completeness of all such statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial position, strategy, projected costs, plans and objectives for the management of future operations of Drax Group plc ('Drax') and its subsidiaries (the 'Group') are not warranted or guaranteed. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may occur in the future. Although Drax believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a number of factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Group, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, factors such as: future revenues being lower than expected; increasing competitive pressures in the industry; and/or general economic conditions or conditions affecting the relevant industry, both domestically and internationally, being less favourable than expected. We do not intend to publicly update or revise these projections or other forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, and we do not assume any responsibility for doing so. ----------------------- Management Presentation and Conference Call Management will host a presentation for analysts and investors at 9:00am (UK Time) today, Tuesday 4 March 2008, at the City Presentation Centre, 4 Chiswell Street, Finsbury Square, London, EC1Y 4UP. The meeting can also be accessed remotely via a conference call or alternatively via a live webcast, as detailed below. After the meeting, a video webcast and recordings of the call will be made available and access details for these recordings are also set out below. A copy of the presentation will be made available from 7:00am (UK time) today, Tuesday 4 March for download at www.draxgroup.plc.uk >> investors>>results and reports>>IR presentations>>2007 or use the link http://www.draxgroup.plc.uk/ investor/results_and_reports/presentations/ Event Title: Drax Group plc: Full Year Results Event Date: Tuesday 4 March 2008 Event Time: 9:00am (UK time) UK Call In Number: 020 7162 0125 International Call In Number: +44 (0)20 7162 0125 US Call In Number: +1 334 323 6201 Webcast details Live Event Link: http://events.webeventservices.com/drax/2008/03/04/ UK Instant Replay Start Date: Tuesday 4 March 2008 Delete Date: Thursday 3 April 2008 Dial In Number: 020 7031 4064 Freephone number (UK only): 0800 358 1860 Passcode: 782426 US Instant Replay Start Date: Tuesday 4 March 2008 Delete Date: Thursday 3 April 2008 Dial In Number: 1-954-334-0342 Freephone number (US only): +1 888 365 0240 Passcode: 782426 Video Webcast Start Date: Tuesday 4 March 2008 Delete Date: Tuesday 3 March 2009 Archive Link: http://events.webeventservices.com/drax/2008/03/04/ For further information please contact: On the day Thereafter Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive Gordon 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 Communications David 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 Exchange

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