Northern Ireland energy company Viridian expects its results for the year to the end of March to come in 'at the upper end' of market expectations.
Analysts had been forecasting that the company would report earnings per share of 62-67p for the period.
Viridian said its Northern Ireland Electricity business had maintained the good performance seen in the first half, while customer numbers at its Republic of Ireland business Energia were expected to rise by more than 3,000 to 17,500.
But the company said it had experienced pressure on margins after the setting of electricity prices by the Commission for Energy Regulation for 2006, against a background of higher prices.
Viridian said its Huntstown plant in north Dublin had kept up high availability over the winter period, while its second Huntstown plant was on course to start operating in autumn 2007.
