Taqa net soars on assets sale

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), a state-owned oil explorer and power supplier, on Thursday said first-quarter net profit more than tripled, helped by a gain on sale of some of its non-core Canadian assets. The state-owned utility made a profit of Dh534 million ($145.5 million) for the quarter, compared with Dh152 million in the year-ago period, it said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse. Taqa, which is 75-per cent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, disposed of certain non-core assets in Canada during the first-quarter, making a gain of Dh378 million, it said. The quarterly results also included a one-off gain of Dh92 million from a change in fair value of its Otter field acquisition in the UK North Sea, the statement said. Revenue for the quarter rose five per cent to Dh5.7 billion. In May, Taqa said it plans to start work on its delayed gas storage project in the Netherlands in July following approval from the Dutch government. Taqa, which owns assets in Canada and Europe, also sold a 650 million Malaysian ringgit ($215 million) denominated Islamic bond or sukuk in February, as part of plans to diversify its funding sources.