Contact Energy Limited (CEN) Q4 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning everyone and welcome to the presentation of Contact's FY26 results. Delighted to have you all here. Put simply, FY26 was a year of delivery. We completed the acquisition of Manawa Energy and welcomed its people and the assets into Contact. We delivered renewable energy growth with renewable output up 37%. Contact was 98% renewable in this last year, up from 88% last year, and just 81% in FY21. We took strong and pragmatic steps to support security of supply and the resilience of the electricity sector. We contracted with others, the HF Island Huntley, to ensure a strategic coal reserve for dry years. We bought our first battery online at Glenbrook and confirmed our investment in the second 200 megawatts. And we secured gas to support essential community services through the all-in-government contract. Meanwhile, we continue to work closely to support our customers. This includes supplying discounted or off-heat free electricity to now around 165,000 households and supporting customers and communities most in need through the 5 million contact good initiative initiative. The FY26 results reflect this delivery across the board, with EBITDAF of $1 billion, up 31% last year, and a step up in our average return on investment capital of over 100 basis points. Given this, the board has declared a final dividend of $0.24 per share, taking the total final dividend for the year up to $0.40 per share, up 3% on last year, and delivering as promised to our shareholders. Go to the next slide. Market conditions in this last financial year 26 were a significant contrast to those in FY25. The market was 93% renewable, the highest rate achieved since the market was introduced in the 1990s. And yes, this reflected higher than average hydro inflows, 180% above mean this yea...