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---
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