Contact Energy Rated A by S&P.MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's CreditWire 8/13/97--Standard & Poor's today has assigned its single-'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term issuer credit ratings to Contact Energy Ltd. (Contact). The ratings on Contact reflect its position as the second-largest generator in New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , ownership of a diversified generating plant portfolio, strategic gas rights, good plant operations, and a robust financial profile. Risks inherent in the ratings include exposure to an evolving market and regulatory structure for wholesale generators, the prospect of further competition, and a sizable development program. Contact was established in 1996 as the second-largest generator, with 22% and 28% of New Zealand's wholesale electricity production and installed capacity respectively. The company, which is 100% owned by the New Zealand government, has a well diversified asset portfolio both from a geographical and fuel source perspective, with plants utilizing hydro, gas, and geothermal sources for generation in both the South and North Islands of the country. In a country where natural gas is a scarce resource, Contact also has the rights to 42% of the Maui gas field The Maui natural gas field is located in the Tasman Sea, 35 km off the coast of Taranaki, New Zealand. It is located in 110 metres of water to the southwest of New Plymouth. off the New Zealand North Island coast. The field accounts for approximately 73% of the country's gas supply and provides Contact with a strategic resource for its own generation as well as a revenue stream going forward. Contact's plant performance has proved to be among the world's best over recent years, achieving high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. and load factors. The company's portfolio is competitively positioned in the New Zealand market, with approximately 67% of expected generation derived from stations with our cost fuel sources. New Zealand's generation sector is constantly evolving, exposing Contact to potential long-term market and regulatory risks. Following the disaggregation dis·ag·gre·ga·tion n. 1. A breaking up into component parts. 2. An inability to coordinate various sensations and a failure to observe their mutual relations. of the state-owned Electricity Corporation of New Zealand The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (ECNZ) is a New Zealand State-Owned Enterprise formed on April 1, 1987 as a transition entity in the process of deregulating the New Zealand Electricity Market. (ECNZ ECNZ Environmental Choice New Zealand ) in 1995, which led to the creation of Contact, the government has since announced that more competition in the sector is needed. Contact is, nonetheless, well positioned to face a more competitive future because of a robust financial profile, displaying average funds flow interest coverage of more than 4 times (x) and debt to capital of around 40% over the next five years. Contact is building a new 400 megawatt meg·a·watt n. Abbr. MW One million watts. meg  a·watt gas-fired station near Auckland, representing 53% of its capital expenditure budget to 2000. OUTLOOK: Stable. Despite Contact's short operating history and a challenging and potentially more competitive industry environment, the company should be able to achieve its operational and financial goals, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire CONTACT: Rick Shepherd, Melbourne (61) 3-9250-4560 Louise Griffiths Louise Griffiths, (born 31 July, 1978 in Hertfordshire, England), is a female pop singer and songwriter and actor. She was a contestant in the BBC television series, Fame Academy in 2003. Biography The daughter of a London taxicab driver, she also plays the saxophone. , Melbourne (61) 3-9250-4563 Michael Wilkins, Melbourne (61) 3-9250-4562 |
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