Power generation and wholesale marketing company TransAlta Corp. (TAC,TA.TO) said Wednesday its profit for the fourth quarter declined 16% over last year, due to the writedown of mining development costs at Centralia, Washington, as well as a C$15 million tax recovery in 2008. However, comparable earnings grew 6%, helped by lower planned and unplanned outages at the Alberta Thermal plants and lower unplanned outages at Genesee 3.
The Calgary, Canada-based company posted net earnings of C$79 million or C$0.37 per share for the fourth quarter, down from C$94 million or C$0.47 per share in the prior year quarter.
Excluding items, comparable earnings grew to C$84 million or C$0.40 per share from C$79 million or C$0.40 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Fourth quarter revenue declined to C$763 million from C$808 million in the same quarter last year.
Production for the quarter decreased to 12,297 gigawatt hours or GWh from 12,656 GWh in the fourth quarter of 2008, due to higher unplanned outages at Centralia Thermal, the expiration of the long-term contract at Saranac, and lower PPA customer demand at Alberta Thermal and Sheerness.
Revenues from the Generation segment dropped to C$753 million from C$784 million a year earlier.
Fleet availability for the fourth quarter improved to 87.0% from 86.2% in the previous year quarter, due to lower planned and unplanned outages at Alberta Thermal and lower unplanned outages at Genesee 3, partially offset by higher unplanned outages at Centralia Thermal.
During the quarter, the company completed the acquisition of Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. for C$5.25 per share in cash. Canadian Hydro Developers is involved in the operation of 21 renewable energy generation facilities in Canada totaling net 694 MW of capacity in operation and 18 MW under construction.
For the full year 2009, TransAlta reported net earnings of C$181 million or C$0.90 per share, compared to C$235 million or C$1.18 per share in the previous year.
Comparable earnings dropped to C$181 million or C$0.90 per share from C$290 million or C$1.46 per share in the prior year.
Annual revenue decreased to C$2.77 billion from C$3.11 billion in the year-ago.
TAC is currently trading at US$21.91, down 52 cents or 2.32% on the NYSE, while TA.TO is currently trading at C$23.20, down 47 cents or 1.99% on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.