Page 1 of 6

Christine St Anne is Morningstar's online editor and Nicholas Grove is a Morningstar journalist.

Companies covered in this report:

• AGL Energy (AGK)
• Asciano (AIO)
• Suncorp Group (SUN)
• CSL Limited (CSL)
• Woodside (WPL)
• Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL)

AGL Energy's profit meets guidance, dividend rises

AGL Energy (AGK) recorded an 11.8 per cent rise in underlying profit before one-off items to $482 million for fiscal 2012, Australia's number two electricity and gas retailer said on Wednesday.

The result was in line with company guidance and just short of Morningstar's forecast of $492.1 million.

"The standout feature was strong customer growth, with customers increasing by 180,000 on last year or 5.5 per cent higher - a strong performance," Morningstar senior equities analyst Gareth James said.

Including one-off items associated with the acquisition of the Loy Yang A power station, and changes in the fair value of certain electricity derivatives, statutory net profit fell 79.4 per cent on the prior year to $114.9 million, AGL said.

The company declared a full-year dividend of 61 cents a share fully franked, up 1.7 per cent on the previous year and 1 cent above Morningstar's forecast of 60 cents.

The record date for the final dividend is 5 September 2012 with payment to be made on 27 September 2012, AGL said. A dividend reinvestment plan will also be in operation.

Revenue for the year rose 5.4 per cent to $7.4 billion, the company said in a statement.

Underlying EPS rose 9.4 per cent to 100 cents a share, while underlying operating cash flow before interest and tax rose 4.9 per cent to $750.7 million, it said.

AGL managing director Michael Fraser said the company increased its electricity customer base in New South Wales by 32 per cent over the year.

"In total, we have now gained approximately 200,000 new electricity customers in New South Wales since January 2011," Fraser said.

"We were also the successful bidder for the federal government's Solar Flagship program, and won the right to supply long-term gas and power to Xstrata at Mt Isa.