Infrastructure company NTR said its group operating profit, excluding the impact of losses in start-up businesses, increased by 34% to €24.9m for the year ending December 2003.
The company said this reflected significant growth in its waste and renewable energy businesses and said it has a solid platform for sustained growth in shareholder value over the medium term.
NTR said its group turnover jumped by 47.3% to €211m in 2003, while basic earnings per share increased by 10.8% to 75.1 cent.
The company's roads division saw the opening of the second West-Link Bridge in September while it reported a 3.8% increase in traffic volume to 35.6 million at its West-Link and East-Link Bridges. NTR's consortium, CRG, was also awarded the 30 year Public Private Partnership contract for the M1 Dundalk Western bypass.
In is waste division, NTR's Greenstar revenues increased by 36% to 75.9m, while profits after tax were up 12% to €8.2m. Greenstar handled a total of 477,000 tonnes of waste last year, up 25% on the previous year. Licences were granted to Greenstar for material recovery facilites in Dublin and Cork and for residual landfill facilities in Meath and Wicklow.
The Ringsend wastewater treatment plant, operated by Celtic Anglican Water, was officially opened in June.
Airtricity reported its first year of profit in 2003 with an after tax profit of €1.3m. Its customers increased by 44% to 29,500 in 2003, while revenues increased by 80% to €92m. During the year, two windfarms were completed in Sligo and Cavan while the construction of windfarms off the coast of Wicklow and in Scotland were started.
NTR's Irish Broadband was formally launched in May and was awarded seven 3.5 GHz spectrum licences by ComReg, covering 80% of the population.
'In 2003, NTR continued to deliver on its objective of being the leading Irish based developer, financier and operator of public infrastructure,' commented Jim Barry, NTR's CEO.
'Our well balanced portfolio of established, developing and start-up infrastructure related businesses provides a solid platform for sustained growth in shareholder value over the medium term,' he added.
