NZ power firms eye weekly losses as Rio smelter closure may affect earnings

Vector

10/07/2020 24:20

** Power firms in New Zealand, which slumped on Thursday
after Rio Tinto  RIO.AX  announced closure of its aluminium
smelter operation in the country, set to post weekly losses
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2EF45N
    ** Rio's decision dealt a blow to the country's top power
producers as the venture is NZ's largest power consumer and
employs 1,000 people directly, 1,600 indirectly
    ** Decline in share prices reflects an expected change in
the balance between electricity supply and demand resulting from
an extra 5.5 TWh of power coming on line once the aluminium
smelter closes, says Paul Clark, a NZ-based economist at Westpac
    ** "With Tiwai Point closing, Gentailers are likely to see a
drop in earnings from electricity generation, which will be
passed onto downstream consumers," says Clark
    ** Meridian Energy  MEL.NZ  , which had shed over 18% on
Thursday, set to post its worst week in four months
    ** Contact Energy  CEN.NZ  eyes its worst week on record, on
track to shed over 12% for period
    ** Genesis Energy  GNE.NZ  set to clock in a weekly loss of
5%, its biggest weekly drop since March 20
    ** Vector Ltd  VCT.NZ  and Mercury NZ  MCY.NZ  eye weekly
losses of over 1% each
    

 (Reporting by Shruti Sonal in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger)
 ((Shruti.Sonal@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @shrutisonal26))