SP AusNet said about 3,800 customers in Australia’s eastern Victoria state are without electricity because of a bushfire. It remains unsafe to access the area around the fire in East Gippsland, Victoria, Joe Adamo, a spokesman for the company, said by phone today from Melbourne. The company aims to install temporary generators by 6 p.m. local time tonight, he said.
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SP AusNet says it has posted a 15–25% increase net profit after tax for HY2011, driven mainly by a favourable tax position.
The tax deductions were arrived at after completion of SP AusNet’s tax returns on 30 September 2010.
The favourable movement in income tax expense amounts to $28 million and includes:
SP AusNet says it filed its defence and counterclaim today with the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning the Feb 7, 2009, Black Saturday bushfire known as the Kilmore East fire.
SP AusNet is the defendant in legal proceedings.
The defence denies that SP AusNet was negligent. SP AusNet alleges that its conduct was at all times reasonable, in compliance with technical regulations and reasonable in light of economic regulations applicable to SP AusNet.
Thinly-traded SP AusNet (X04.SG) below $1.00 for first time in five sessions, off 3.4% at $0.985, as class action lawsuit against unit SPI Electricity weighs, says Dow Jones.
Company blamed for allegedly breaching safety guidelines, causing bushfire in Australia’s Victoria state in 2009, which destroyed more than 1,200 homes.
SP AusNet has expressed disappointment with the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) draft price determination for Victoria’s electricity distribution businesses for 2011-2015, released last Friday.
In its draft determination, the AER has reduced SP AusNet’s proposed capital expenditure by 30.5% and operational expenditure by 24.2%. SP AusNet says this reduction, if endorsed in the AER’s final determination, would significantly limit the company’s plans to secure, maintain and grow its network to meet anticipated consumer demand over the next five years.
