Financial
EBITDA for H1 2014 down 15% at £102 million
- Year on year reduction reflects increasing cost of UK carbon tax
Underlying earnings per share decreased 46% to 9.4 pence
- Higher depreciation and finance costs, reflecting biomass investment and associated financing
- Reported basic loss per share of 2 pence includes unrealised losses on derivative contracts of £56 million (and the associated tax), principally related to foreign currency hedging programme
H1 2014 effective tax rate on underlying profits of 16%
- Expect full year tax rate on underlying profits to be close to or just below standard corporate rate
Capital investment on track
- H1 2014 capital investment of £123 million
- Full year capital investment guidance unchanged at c.£200 million
Evaluating options for further value enhancing, biomass related capital investment
- Supply chain - potential 3rd US Gulf pellet plant and US East coast pellet operations
- Fourth unit conversion - dependent on regulatory support
Interim dividend of 4.7 pence per share, or £19 million (H1 2013: 8.7 pence per share,
or £35 million), in line with policy to distribute 50% of underlying earnings
Strong balance sheet
- Net debt of £38 million includes additional £100 million M&G loan facility concluded in May 2014
