The company responsible for founding the Global Carbon Capture & Storage Institute in Canberra this year, Alstom, has maintained strong commercial activity with orders up five per cent and sales up 11 per cent from the record levels of the previous year.
Alstom is an Australia-based, global developer of CO2 capture and storage technologies, and was a founding member of the Federal Government’s Australian Global Carbon Capture & Storage Institute, which was launched in April as a means to seek ways of working in a cooperative fashion to help reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
The Institute focuses mainly on the commercialisation and financing of carbon capture technologies.
Between 1st April 2008 and 31st March 2009, Alstom maintained a strong commercial activity, with income from its operations growing by 19 per cent, leading to an operating margin of 8.2 per cent, according to the company’s most recent financial results listing.
The rise in profitability allowed the net income to reach AUD$1.98 billion, up by 30 per cent. The Group’s financial situation was further strengthened by the cash generation of AUD$2.7 billion over the year, the document said.
At its next annual general meeting, Alstom will propose to increase the dividend by 40 per cent to AUD$2.02 per share, it said.
“Alstom once again posted healthy results in the fiscal year 2008/09, with a solid performance in both Power and Transport activities,” said Alstom chairman and chief executive officer, Patrick Kron.
“The brutal downturn in the world’s economy has created uncertainties in our markets. We expect demand for rail transportation to remain sustained, notably thanks to the stimulus packages; demand for new equipment in the power market should drop as some future projects may be postponed, while demand for service is expected to be less volatile. Alstom benefits from strong assets to face this challenging environment: a competitive industrial positioning worldwide, a solid customer base, a sound financial structure and a record backlog.
“The visibility provided by the backlog allows us to confirm our operating margin estimate for March 2010 at around 9 per cent. Furthermore, to continue to smoothly weather the economic crisis, the Group has initiated actions aimed at optimising costs, developing flexibility and prioritising future investments, while continuing to ensure a proper execution of its large order book.”
Alstom Australia and New Zealand president, Chris Raine, said: “In spite of the global financial crisis, uncertainty over the Emissions Trading Scheme and permitting issues, Alstom’s results in Australia and New Zealand reflect the success of the group globally.
“During the financial year 2008/09 our orders included 20 X’Trapolis trainsets and major equipment for the Yarwun Power Station. During the year we completed Tallawarra and Kwinana gas fired power plants, and have large projects under construction including Bluewaters, Colongra, and Yarwun power stations.”