NZ Windfarms interim report/results
Chairman and Chief Executive's Review For the Six Month Period Ended 31 December 2007
The past six months have seen NZ Windfarms make good progress against the programme set out in the May 2007 prospectus. Stage 2 of the Te Rere Hau wind farm Joint Venture is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2008, approximately two months behind the original schedule. Consequently the Company can now begin turning its attention to growing and converting our pipeline of future developments into operating wind farms.
Financial Performance
Financial performance was
steady for the six months to 31 December 2007 with a Net
Operating Surplus before Taxation of $1,971,000 (31 December
2006 - $327,000 loss). Total assets at 31 December 2007 were
$79,986,000, compared to $80,837,000 at 30 June 2007 and
$11,526,000 at 31 December 2006.
The operating revenue projected in the May 2007 prospectus for the full year will not be achieved due to the delay in commissioning of the stage 2 turbines at Te Rere Hau. However the shortfall will be more than offset by higher interest income as the project delays have meant that cash for the build programme has been expended at a slower rate than projected.
Te Rere Hau
Stage 1 Performance
During the period the Joint Venture
experienced a number of relatively minor issues with the
stage 1 turbines. This is not surprising given that we had
very deliberately located stage 1 on to the windiest part of
the property with the intention of robustly testing the
Windflow 500 before moving onto the next stages of the
development. All issues have been resolved effectively by
our turbine supplier, Windflow Technology, and where
appropriate, modifications have been made that are being
incorporated into all future turbines.
The most significant of these issues resulted in the upgrading of all five of the stage 1 gearboxes. As a consequence of this work, a significant number of turbine operating hours were lost during the period. The resultant revenue loss of approximately $28,000 to the Te Rere Hau Joint Venture will be covered by the Windflow Technology warranty.
Te Rere
Hau Stage 2
Work has continued steadily at Te Rere Hau as
the Joint Venture prepares for the installation of the 28
turbines to complete stage 2 of our development. Building
work has recommenced on site with the remaining site roads
and the stage 2 foundations underway. Design of the new full
electrical connection is now complete with construction
scheduled to commence when the cable arrives in March 2008.
The first of these turbines rolled out of Windflow
Technology's new nacelle assembly factory in January 2008,
while the first components to be transported to site will be
the towers commencing May 2008, erection and commissioning
of the new turbines is scheduled to commence in the second
quarter of 2008.
We anticipate stage 2 will be complete and generating electricity by the third quarter of 2008, approximately two month later than originally scheduled. We expect to catch up on the build programme by moving almost immediately on to the erection of the stage 3 turbines.
Innovative Foundation Design Put to the
Test
Design work and full scale testing of a new
foundation design is now complete. The innovative design
uses approximately 40% less concrete in each foundation as
well as reducing earth works per turbine by two-thirds. In
addition, it will make the process of tower erection less
weather dependent. In short, the new foundations are
smaller, smarter and more cost effective than the foundation
design used for stage 1.
Extension to Te Rere Hau
It is
no secret that Te Rere Hau is superbly suited to wind
farming. In order to maximise our returns from Te Rere Hau,
the Joint Venture intends seeking resource consent to add up
to a further 37 turbines to the 97 turbines currently
consented. In keeping with our commitment to being a
responsible wind farm developer, we are undertaking
discussions regarding the proposed extension with a range of
stakeholders before we formally lodge our application.
Meetings are underway with surrounding landowners, community
groups and interested members of the general public. At
these sessions we are providing information about the
proposal and discussing potential effects of the proposed
extension. We also plan an open day at Te Rere Hau before
the application is lodged.
Mighty River Power Talks
We
are continuing discussions with Mighty River Power to
explore ways that we can work together on the development of
distributed wind powered generation.
Shareholding in
Windpower Maungatua to be Increased
The decision has been
made to increase our investment in Windpower Maungatua
Limited from the 16% stake we purchased in March 2007 to
50%. Windpower Maungatua holds the development rights to a
promising farm in Otago and our decision to increase our
investment follows positive feasibility studies conducted at
the site. We put the potential capacity of the farm at about
20 megawatts, making it a little under half the size of Te
Rere Hau wind farm.
New Zealand Energy Strategy & Carbon
Trading
During the period the Government announced the
National Energy Strategy and the Emissions Trading Scheme.
These policies provide strong backing for renewable
generation including wind farming which is very positive for
NZ Windfarm's strategy. They are a major endorsement of
renewable sources of electricity generation over polluting
fossil fuel alternatives and include an objective for New
Zealand to generate 90 per cent of its electricity from
renewables by 2024.
Directors and Management
On 1
November 2007, Michael Stiassny and Simon Mackenzie, the
Chairman and Chief Executive of Vector Limited respectively,
were appointed directors. These appointments were agreed
with our cornerstone shareholder, Vector Limited, as part of
last year's successful capital raising.
Garry Forward was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in September 2007. Garry has worked at a senior level in a number of listed companies
Derek Walker Chris Freear
Chairman Chief
Executive Officer
NZ Windfarms Limited
Results for
announcement to the market
Reporting Period Six months to
31 December 2007
Previous Reporting Period Six months to
31 December 2006
Amount (000s)
Revenue from ordinary
activities $NZ3,056
1282.8%
Profit (loss) from
ordinary activities after tax attributable to security
holder. $NZ1,320
75.3%
Net profit (loss) attributable
to security holders. $NZ1,320
Percentage Change
75.3%
Interim Dividend Amount per security Imputed amount
per security
Nil It is not proposed to pay a dividend.
Not Applicable
Record Date Not Applicable
Dividend
Payment Date Not Applicable
Comments: Refer to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer's Review.
ENDS