Strong revenue growth raises Viridian profits one-third to €126m

ELECTRICITY company Viridian said first-half profits rose by a third on the back of strong revenue growth.

The company, which is increasingly becoming a major player in the electricity market here through its supply business Energia and the Huntstown power station in Dublin, said operating profits in the six months to end September came in at £86.6 million (€126m).

Turnover for the period was up by nearly £50m (€72.87m) at £409.3m (€596.6m).

The company did not strip the financial performance of its operations in the Republic, but said further expansion was planned.

In a statement, Viridian said: “The construction programme for Huntstown 2 is on track for commissioning in autumn 2007. We have invested €18m to date against an expected total of €250m.”

It added that the Government’s plan for more support for renewable energy sources presented opportunities for the company.

“Under the mechanism, renewable generators will contract with suppliers at a fixed price and suppliers will benefit from a subsidy levied across all customers. Energia is assessing the opportunity.”

The company is listed on the Dublin stock market.

Yesterday’s results from Viridian were sharply ahead of most analyst forecasts and the company’s shares climbed more than 3% in trading.

The main driver of Viridian’s profit increase was its Northern Ireland Electricity unit, where profits were nearly £50m, 13% ahead of the previous year.

The company was also helped by the gain on the sale of information technology division Sx3.