Australian Power and Gas Company Limited (ASX:APK) FY10 Revenues Exceed A$130 Million

Sydney, Aug 17, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Fast-growing independent energy retailer, Australian Power & Gas (ASX:APK), today reported a preliminary unaudited 79% increase in revenues to A$130.3M (2009: A$72.8M) for the financial year ended 30 June 2010 underpinned by a 44% increase in net customer accounts to 145,000 (2009: 101,000).

The company recorded preliminary earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of A$12.2M (2009: -A$2.5M) for the period, a turnaround of A$14.7 million on the prior corresponding period.

Following the company's announced expansion into Queensland and New South Wales, the Board has today provided forecast guidance for FY 2011 as follows:

- Revenues of A$200M to A$220M
- EBITDA of A$21.0M to A$23.0M and
- NPAT of A$3.5M to A$4.5M.

In relation to the company's reported FY 2010 NPAT result, the Board has made a series of strategic decisions to recognise one-off significant items; excluding these expenses the company achieved an estimated operational after tax profit of A$1.4M.

Following the board's decision to secure funding by renegotiating and extending the company's A$50 million debt facility to December 2012, associated one-off costs have been incurred and certain performance payments within the facility budgeted for 2011 have also been recognised. The decision to press hard for growth and expand into the Queensland and New South Wales markets also resulted in once off set up costs relating to the expansion.

These decisions were made to secure the company's growth objectives, and will benefit the company and its shareholders in the longer term. The decision to account for these costs immediately has resulted in a preliminary net loss after tax of A$3.3M for the period.

Australian Power & Gas CEO, James Myatt said: "I am very pleased with the company's progress in FY2010. I am particularly pleased that in the first three years of operation we have established a highly profitable base in Victoria, with double-digit revenue and customer growth in every half since commencement of operations."

"Favourable market conditions are now supporting our expansion, particularly into Queensland. We are well placed to achieve our goal to build a profitable, independent retail energy business, and treble our active customer base to 450,000 active accounts by 2014."

"Today's revised guidance reflects our view of the market potential for Australian Power & Gas, and our ability to successfully leverage scale as we grow. Expanding our base of billable accounts creates material economies of scale that will significantly enhance earnings and improve underlying profitability over the next two years" he said.

Contact

Andrew Butler Australian Power & Gas Tel: +61-2-8908-2711 Mob: +61-419-818-801 www.australianpowerandgas.com.au