TAQA First Quarter 2008 Financial Results

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- TAQA's Growth Strategy Delivers Outstanding Q1'08 Results With AED 4 Billion Revenues and AED 398 Million Profit; Basic Earnings per Share Grows 525% to 9.6 Fils for the Quarter

The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM: TAQA), today reported financial results for the first quarter 2008.

Since first quarter 2007 TAQA has made a number of acquisitions which have been fully or partially consolidated into the period under review. Following Q1'07, TAQA acquired CMS Generation, providing additional breadth to the company's downstream activities, while the acquisition of Northrock Resources and Pioneer Canada significantly increased TAQA's upstream assets. The largest company acquisition to date, PrimeWest, which was completed on 16 January 2008, is included in the company's financial results, herewith, for the first time. The effect of these acquisitions should be considered when making year-on-year comparisons.

Key highlights of the results for Q1 2008: - Total revenue grew 279% approaching AED 4.0 billion compared with AED 1.0 billion for the same period in 2007: - Revenue from the electricity and water business grew by 38% to AED 1.2 billion, from AED 0.9 billion for the same period in 2007. This does not include supplemental fuel sales. - Revenue from oil and gas activities accounted for AED 1.9 billion compared to AED 76 million for the same period of 2007. As at Q1'07, just two months of revenue from the assets acquired from BP Netherlands were included. The increase in Q1'08 was largely due to the acquisition of the TAQA North assets made since Q1'07. High average oil and gas prices experienced during the period have also been a contributing factor. - Revenues derived from gas storage grew to AED 216 million compared with AED 72 million for the same period of 2007. This includes a full quarter of revenue from TAQA Energy as well as gas storage revenue from East Cantaur in TAQA North. - EBITDA(1) more than doubled to AED 2.4 billion in Q1'08. When adjusted to remove distorting factors such as supplemental revenue from revenues and interest and investment income from EBITDA the resulting EBITDA margin for Q1'08 is 70% versus 74% for the same period Q1'07. - Finance costs net of interest income increased from AED 371 million to AED 836 million to fund acquisitions. - Net profit (after minority interests) for the quarter grew 525% to AED 398 million compared to AED 64 million in the same quarter in 2007. The increase is due to the acquisitions made since Q1'07, as well as the impact of high oil and gas prices experienced in Q1'08. - Basic earnings-per-share grew 525% to 9.6 fils for the quarter compared to 1.5 fils for the same period of 2007. - Total assets grew 27% in Q1'08, to AED 86 billion, compared to AED 68 billion as at 31 December 2007. Upstream and midstream - Upstream activity generated revenues of AED 2.1 billion (including gas storage), 53% of total revenues and 58% of the total segment net profit. - Total production was 10.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in Q1'08, split between TAQA North (8.1 million boe) and TAQA Energy and TAQA Bratani (2.1 million boe). - Total average daily oil and gas production in Q1 2008 was 112.3 thousand boe per day. - Average net realized price of crude oil sold was US$83 per barrel for TAQA North in canada and US$101 per barrel in Europe for TAQA Energy and TAQA Bratani. The average price for the total production in Canada and Europe was US$87 per barrel. - Average net realized price for natural gas sold was US$7.8 per thousand cubic feet (mfc) for TAQA North and US$8.7 per mcf for TAQA Energy and TAQA Bratani. The average price for was US$8.0 per mcf. - Drilling success rate of 98% for TAQA North. - Results represent significant growth, due to the impact of TAQA's acquisitions in 2007. Downstream - Downstream activity generated revenues of AED 1.9 billion in the first quarter, comprising 47% of total revenues, and 42% of the total segment profit. - TAQA's downstream capability now represents total global generation capacity (gross) of 9,423 Mega Watts. During 2007, total power production ran to 8,243 Giga-Watt hours. - TAQA's total water desalination in 2007 was 43,175.5 million Imperial gallons, with an installed capacity of 594 million Imperial gallons per day. - Power and water sales in the UAE accounted for a total of 23% of the total revenue, with non-UAE assets accounting for a further 24% of the total revenue. - Technical availability of power generation businesses averaged 86% with an average domestic availability of 85% and an international average availability of 91%.

Comment

Peter Barker-Homek, Chief Executive Officer of TAQA, said:

"The results for the first quarter of 2008 tell a very different story to that of Q1'07 due to the acquisitions made during the year. Integration has been a major focus for the quarter, and for the first time we can begin to see the impact of the acquisitions we have made in the last year, including PrimeWest, the company's largest acquisition to date.

"I am proud to report a net profit of AED 398 million for the quarter which has significantly boosted the Earnings Per Share. Whilst the acquisitions made in 2007 together with a back drop of high oil and gas prices have contributed heavily to revenue and profit, we have also witnessed respectable organic growth of our existing portfolio.

"We will continue to focus on the integration of our acquisitions over the coming quarter and beyond, to ensure efficiency within our operations and develop our positioning as a global energy company."

Corporate activity during the period

During 2007, TAQA made strategic acquisitions that have transformed it into a global energy company comprised of quality energy assets. Today, TAQA operates in nine countries, and employs 2,800 people who come from 38 different nations.

On 16 January 2008, TAQA completed its Cdn $5 billion acquisition of PrimeWest Energy Trust. This is TAQA's largest acquisition to date and now affords TAQA a position as one of Canada's top ten energy companies in terms of net proven natural gas reserves and in the top 12 in terms of oil and gas production.

In January 2008 TAQA agreed to a $3.1 billion, one-year credit facility with several international lenders and to a $1.3 billion, two and a half year credit facility with a syndicate of lenders in Canada.

About Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA)

Founded in 2005, TAQA (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (PJSC)) is a global energy company with a growing asset base that exceeds AED 86 billion (USD 23.4 billion). One of the largest companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM), with 2007 revenues of more than AED 8 billion (USD 2 billion), TAQA is a flagship corporation for the Government of Abu Dhabi.

TAQA's strategic goal is to build and operate a geographically diverse global portfolio of energy businesses across the value chain. It has operations in power generation, water desalination, upstream oil/gas, pipelines, and gas storage.

TAQA employs approximately 2,800 people from 38 different nations and operates from its offices in: Abu Dhabi; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Aberdeen; Amsterdam; Calgary and The Hague. This footprint is further extended through alliances with partners across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America and India.

TAQA carries Aa2 and AA- credit ratings from Moody's and S&P respectively.

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(1) Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation

Contact Details: UAE: Daniela Fleischmann, Capital MS&L, +971-4-367-6164, daniela.fleischmann@capitalmsl.com ; Mohammed Mubaideen, +971-50-813-0752, mohammed.mubaideen@taqa.ae . London: Rebecca Clark, Capital MS&L, +44-20-7307-5330 / +44-7909-918-478, rebecca.clark@capitalmsl.com ; Anna Mitchell, Capital MS&L, +44-20-7307-5330 / +44-7789-637-174, Anna.mitchell@capitalmsl.com .

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