NZ's Contact Energy says to raise debt for projects
WELLINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Contact Energy Ltd. (CEN.NZ), New Zealand's largest listed power company, is to raise more than NZ$250 million ($175 million), the company said on Tuesday.
The company said it would use the money for new generation projects.
"It will be north of NZ$250 million," said chief executive David Baldwin at a media briefing on its annual result.
There was no detail on what form the capital raising would take.
Earlier the company reported a 1 percent fall in full year net profit to NZ$237.1 million for the year to June 30, from NZ$239.6 million last year.
Shares in Contact, 51.2 percent owned by Australia's Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG.AX), which is the subject of a hostile $13.1 billion bid by Britain's BG Group (BG.L), last traded down 2 cents or 0.2 percent at NZ$8.29. The stock has gained almost 1 percent so far this year, compared with a 17.7 percent fall in the benchmark NZSX-50 Index .NZ50.
Contact, New Zealand's second-largest listed company, has 10 power stations and around 600,000 electricity and gas customers. ($1=NZ$1.43)
