Cold winter boosts Bord na Móna profits

Bord na Móna, which is responsible for the State's turf industry, said annual pretax profit jumped 91 per cent after cold winter weather boosted demand for solid fuel and the company trimmed costs and sold more peat to ESB power stations.

Profit climbed to €34 million in the year ended March 29th from €17.8 million a year earlier, when the closure of ESB plants cut revenue from the electricity provider by half.

All four of the company's businesses "exceeded expectations," according to John Hourican, Bord na Móna's managing director.

Sales rose almost 15 per cent to €295.7 million. However, Bord na Mona restated profit for the previous year to €4 million because it had to adopt FRS 17, a reporting standard that changes the way companies account for retirement benefits.

Since the end of the financial year, the state-owned company has lost €7 million from an eight-week closure of the ESB's new peat-burning power station at Shannonbridge, Co Offaly, Mr Hourican said.

The plant, which went out of commission because of pipe corrosion, will shut again in the middle of August for a planned major overhaul, he said.

Bord na Móna is pursuing acquisitions to aid its effort to reposition itself as an alternative energy and waste management company, and to cut its reliance on peat, which is expected to run out in just a few decades.

The 60-year-old company received formal Government approval for this strategy in October, and is in talks with industry players in waste disposal and alternative energy about forming partnerships.

Bord na Móna recently completed a private placement of $150 million (€119 million) with a number of US financial institutions to fund its expansion into new businesses. The Government also gave it the go-ahead to increase its borrowing limit to €400 million from a previous cap of €127 million, according to Mr Hourican.

It is understood the company's planned purchase of the Edenderry power plant in Co Offaly will go ahead in mid-September once it receives shareholder approval.

Bord na Móna negotiated to buy the 120 megawatt peat-fired station for about €90 million from German energy giant Eon. The Edenderry plant has a contract to supply power to the ESB until 2015.

"With the help of partnerships with industry players, we aim to gain 20 per cent of the country's power generation capacity over the next five to 10 years," Mr Hourican said yesterday.

Bord na Móna, keen to expand into waste management, is said to be bidding for Advanced Environmental Solutions (AES), which is controlled by software millionaire Bill McCabe. Sources say NTR subsidiary Greenstar is also in the running for AES.