Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), one of the region's largest publicly traded regulated utilities, announced combined financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021.

Taqa achieved a good result, backed up by its reliable contracted and managed utility companies. Improved energy prices in the oil and gas market boosted results, indicating a rebound from a weaker economic situation in 2020.

The company's revenue is Dhs10.3 billion, 3% higher than the previous year, owing primarily to higher product prices in the Oil & Gas market.

Ebitda increased by 12% to Dhs4.7 billion, owing to higher earnings, lower operational costs and higher profits from associates.

Net income (Taqa-share) was Dhs1.4 billion, due to a slightly higher income from the Oil & Gas sector and a Dhs1.5 billion post-tax impairment charge in Q1, 2020. Capital expenditure was Dhs1.3 billion, a rise of 18% due to lower spending in 2020 due to ventures being stalled or canceled due to the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Transmission network capacity for electricity and water was 97.8 %, slightly lower than the previous year. The generation of global technological availability of 88.7 % was slightly lower than in the previous year, owing primarily to expected outages in our foreign generation reserves. The average amount of oil and gas output was 120.7 mboepd, which was steady relative to the previous year, as stronger production in Europe entirely compensated declines in North America and Iraq.

Taqa's Board of Directors declared an interim cash dividend of Dhs618 million after authorizing the period's financial performance (0.55 fils per share). In compliance with the Company's declared dividend schedule, this would be the first of four quarterly dividend payouts scheduled for the fiscal year 2021.

Taqa Group CEO and Managing Director Jasim Husain Thabet said, "Taqa Group has rounded out a good first quarter illustrating our stability, which is undergirded by our strategic and financial scope as a completely integrated utilities firm."

Taqa will continue to strengthen its financial position as a result of our recently formulated plan that lays the groundwork for long-term, stable success. We reach the bottom working in 2021 with our latest bond issuance, which gained broad support from investors worldwide, demonstrating Taqa's profitability and our dedication to executing our plan.

Taqa Group launched a new 2030 vision for prosperous and efficient development in March, optimizing global energy transformation acceleration and the company's commitment to becoming an advocate for low carbon power and water.

Highlights of the plan provide an emphasis on sustainable energy, especially solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, which will account for more than 30% of its energy generation, and a shift to highly efficient RO technology, which will account for two-thirds of its desalination range. This involves work that is currently ongoing, including the building of the world's largest single-site solar PV plant in Al Dhafra, and the Taweelah Reverse Osmosis facility, which is set to begin shortly.

It has also pledged to spend an additional Dhs40 billion to expand its UAE Controlled Asset Base. The group intends to concentrate on economically sustainable ways to reduce its exposure to the hydrocarbon market and to release its first sustainability summary in 2021.

The full package of first-quarter financial records could be found on Taqa's website in the Investor Relations section.

In this press release, financial and operating results were compared to prior-year performance on a Pro-forma framework, as if the deal between Taqa and ADPower occurred on January 1, 2020. This allows for like-for-like comparisons with prior year times.

Taqa, a diversified utilities, and energy company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and placed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, was created in 2005. Taqa has substantial investments in electricity and water supply, transmission and distribution resources, and upstream and midstream oil and gas activities. The properties of the organization are located in the UAE, Canada, Ghana, India, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US. Please visit www.taqa.com for further information.