Australia's Aurizon cuts earnings forecast on prolonged wet weather (updated)

Aurizon Holdings

13/02/2023 24:44

(Adds background, details, shares)
       Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Aurizon Holdings  AZJ.AX 
on Monday reported a 34% fall in its first-half underlying
profit and slashed its annual core earnings forecast, as
prolonged wet weather and a derailment dented the rail-haulage
firm's freight volumes.
    The Queensland-based firm said it lowered the underlying
EBITDA forecast for fiscal 2023 by 4% to between A$1.42 billion
($981.50 million) and A$1.47 billion, owing to the persistent
rainy weather and a two-week derailment on the Blackwater line.
    Aurizon's underlying EBITDA for fiscal 2022 was A$1.47
billion.
    It was "a challenging period operationally, with prolonged
flooding on the East Coast together with a number of significant
third-party derailments and incidents that resulted in reduced
volumes and revenue," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew
Harding. 
    For the first-half of 2023, the company's underlying net
profit after tax stood at A$169 million, compared with A$257
million a year ago.
    Aurizon also declared an interim dividend of 7.0 Australian
cents per share, down 33% from the 10.5 Australian cents
dividend it declared a year ago.
    "Overall, (the earnings were) soft with misses across all
lines, which will surprise given the regulated nature of part of
the business," Citi said, adding that income investors will be
disappointed with the dividend.
    Shares of the firm fell 9.2% to A$3.35 after the earnings
update.
($1 = 1.4468 Australian dollars)
 (Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((Riya.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))