Bord na Móna hopeful of lead role in Government water supply plans

BORD na Móna is hopeful of being granted “lead partner” status in the Government’s plan to establish a more focused utility body around water supply, as set out in both the Programme for Government and the EU/IMF agreement.

An advisory report on the issue — jointly carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and law firm, McCann FitzGerald — is due to be delivered to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government in September.

Bord na Móna — which published its latest annual results yesterday — has expressed its “willingness and desire to take on the role of Irish Water”, but added that it could play a major role in the Irish water sector on any partner level, even if not selected as the main utility.

The state-backed company’s chief executive, Gabriel D’Arcy, said yesterday that it remains on course to meet its strategy targets of growth through diversification — having, in its last financial year, made further progress on its renewable energy portfolio and on its plan to develop a major reservoir in Co Offaly, which could provide the water needs of the greater Dublin area for five months of every year.

For the year to the end of last March, Bord na Móna’s after-tax profits increased by 23% to €12.9 million, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up for a fifth straight year, by 12.6% to €72.7m.

Turnover, however, was marginally down — by 0.6% — at €382.1m. While the Bord na Móna board said last year that it was targeting a turnover of about €800m and significant portfolio growth within five years, Mr D’Arcy said that while the timeframe has been put back by a year or two, the strategic plan remains on track.

“We want to strengthen and streamline our existing businesses and grow further by investing in new long-term sustainable opportunities, such as renewable energy and water.

We’ve made significant progress towards achieving these goals during the year,” Mr D’Arcy added.

During the last year — which management said represented “a good performance in a very, very tough year and one of the most challenging years ever” — Bord na Móna obtained planning permission for two major wind-farm projects in Offaly and Laois and brought into commercial operation its 116 megawatt plant in Edenderry, Co Offaly. The company said its operational progress represented a number of significant steps in “progressing the vision for the group”.