Taqa reports preliminary financial results for 2008

These are unaudited preliminary results, subject to changes that may be caused from the final determination of certain accounting estimates.

The company's preliminary profits for the year grew by 89% to reach Dhs2.0bn in 2008. Preliminary revenues grew by 102% to Dhs16.9bn, from Dhs8.3bn in 2007. Total assets grew by 29% to reach Dhs88bn in 2008. The basic earnings per share grew from 25 fils to 39 fils.

Commenting on the preliminary results, Taqa Chief Executive, Peter Barker-Homek said:

"During 2008, Taqa built on the progress we made in 2007, transforming our business into a global integrated energy company. The year was characterised by two key achievements; our ability to deliver financial growth in the context of market disruption and volatility and the execution of select transactions that will be value accretive to our group.

"We completed three financial transactions during the year that totalled $6bn, placing us in a very strong financial position to navigate challenging financial times ahead.

The fall in oil and energy prices during the course of 2008 demonstrated the importance of our diversified global operations. Despite the prevailing environment, we have been able to deliver significant growth in top and bottom line.

In seeking to diversify our operational base, we took the opportunity to expand our UK presence with the purchase of select North Sea operations from Shell and Esso - further evidence of our long-term commitment to Europe. We believe that the North Sea offers significant potential for next generation operators like Taqa and aim to extend the productive life and commercial viability of these assets."

January 2008 marked Taqa's completion of its Cdn$5bn acquisition of PrimeWest Energy Trust. This positioned Taqa as one of Canada's top ten energy companies in terms of net proven natural gas reserves and in the top 12 in terms of oil and gas production.

In January 2008, Taqa agreed to a $3.1bn, one-year credit facility to partially finance the PrimeWest acquisition. The one year facility was refinanced in August 2008 and syndicated to multiple international lenders with a term of three years.

At its AGM in April 2008, Taqa declared a dividend of Dhs4.15m to its shareholders.

In June 2008, Taqa announced the issuance of Dhs4.15bn ($1.1bn) of convertible bonds which converted into common shares on 1 September 2008. The new shares commenced trading on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on 16 October 2008.

On 7 July 2008, Taqa announced that Taqa Bratani had signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Shell U.K. Limited and Esso Exploration and Production (UK) Limited to purchase the equity pertaining to operating licenses for six offshore fields in the UK North Sea. The $631macquisition closed on 2 December 2008.

At the end of July 2008, Taqa completed a bond offering in the US market totalling $1.5bn in five and ten year notes.

In September 2008, Taqa completed the sale of a 20% interest in Shuweihat CMS International Power Company (SCIPCO) and a 50% interest in Shuweihat O&M Limited Partnership ("SOMLP") to Sumitomo Corporation. Taqa retains a 54% interest in SCIPCO.

In December 2008, Taqa, and the Bergermeer project consortium, signed a joint venture agreement with and Gazprom export, in respect of cushion gas for the Bergermeer gas storage facility.

December 2008 also saw the creation of Taqa Gen X, a joint venture with RBS Sempra Commodities focused on investments in the downstream energy business in North America. Simultaneously, Taqa Gen X announced its first investment in a tolling agreement for the Red Oak power plant, an 830 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant, located in Sayreville, New Jersey, USA.