Contact Energy profit up 27% to $420m

Contact Energy posted a 27 percent jump in annual profit for the year to June 30 while revenue slipped as the New Zealand generator reaped the rewards of its Manawa Energy takeover. The company said profit attributable to shareholders rose to NZ$420 million from NZ$331 million a year earlier, even as total revenue fell to NZ$3.24 billion from NZ$3.44 billion.

The profit gain was driven by the July 2025 purchase of Manawa Energy, which added scale and renewable output. Contact also lifted renewable generation by 2.9 TWh, pushing its share of total output to 98 percent for the year. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and finance costs hit NZ$1.01 billion, up from NZ$872 million.

The board declared a final dividend of 24 cents per share, taking the full-year payout to 40 cents and offering shareholders a 2 percent discount to reinvest. Shares closed Monday at NZ$8.97, down 1.21 percent, after the results were released. Contact said the results support its Contact31+ strategy launched last November and set the stage for further growth.

In a separate move, Contact teamed up with CDC Data Centres to explore building a 250 MW data centre at Stratford in Taranaki. The plant would sit near the site of Contact’s former gas power station, which retired earlier in 2025, and include battery storage on site. Peak construction could create as many as 600 jobs, mirroring the workforce peak at Contact’s Tauhara geothermal station. Once running, the data centre would employ roughly four times more skilled staff than the old power plant.

The partners are also planning ways to smooth power demand swings, using technology that can respond quickly to grid changes and help keep the system reliable during dry years or high demand. Stratford offers advantages with 500 MW of grid-scale batteries already approved and a ready grid connection. Contact is also advancing a 150 MW solar farm with battery storage nearby through its Lightsource bp joint venture.