Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., the emirate’s state-run utility known as Taqa, said full-year profit plunged 90 percent as commodity prices declined.
Net income dropped to AED183m ($50m), or 3 fils a share, from AED1.83bn, 36 fils, a year earlier, Taqa said in an e-mailed statement today. Sales rose 0.8 percent to AED16.9bn.
The global economic slump saw oil prices drop from a record $147.27 a barrel in 2008 as demand fell. Oil, which reached a low of $33.98 on February 12, rose 78 percent through 2009 to around $80 a barrel. Taqa generates power in Abu Dhabi and also runs exploration and gas storage businesses from North America to the North Sea as well as electricity production from the US to India.
Carl Sheldon became the company’s general manager in October, replacing Chief Executive Officer Peter Barker-Homek, after Taqa made almost a dozen acquisitions in three years. The company will concentrate on developing assets rather than acquisitions in a departure from the previous strategy, Sheldon said at the time.
Taqa will allocate most of its 2010 investments on developing oil and natural gas assets, including wells in Canada, Sheldon said. It will spend $3bn on existing projects over four years, Sheldon said on November 11.
