• 1H25 underlying profit up 24%, beats consensus
• Declares interim dividend of 30 Australian cents per share
• Energy markets operating earnings down 30%

SYDNEY, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Origin Energy (ORG.AX) , opens new tab exceeded half-year earnings forecasts on Thursday with a 24% jump in underlying profit on strong liquefied natural gas sales, allowing the company to commit A$1.7 billion ($1.07 billion) to major battery projects.

CEO Frank Calabria said Origin's A$924 million underlying profit was a strong first-half result that would be reinvested to facilitate the clean energy transition, with the closure of the Eraring coal plant, the largest in Australia, due by 2027.

"When we think about the Origin business and how we set ourselves up for today and in the future, it really is to lead the energy transition through differentiated assets and capabilities," he said in an earnings call.

Shares of Origin were up 1.5% in early trading, against a flat overall market (.AXJO) , opens new tab.

Origin’s underlying result, which beat the Visible Alpha consensus of A$888.3 million, led it to declare an interim dividend of 30 Australian cents, above the market's estimate of 27 cents.

The Sydney-based company flagged A$1.7 billion of spending on large-scale storage batteries this financial year ending June 30 to meet its target of adding 4 to 5 gigawatts of renewables and storage to its portfolio by 2030.

Origin is the latest of Australia’s top power companies defy a global pivot back to fossil fuels, with rival AGL Energy (AGL.AX) , opens new tab announcing on Wednesday it was scaling up grid-scale battery projects to firm renewable sources of electricity.

Underlying earnings from Origin’s integrated gas business – the largest in the country – grew 25% to A$1.25 billion in the first half.

That was driven by higher gains from trading LNG, as well as higher LNG volumes and commodity prices in the Australia Pacific LNG project where it has a 27.5% stake, it said.

But Origin’s energy business performance was weaker than expected, with underlying earnings slumping 29% to A$738 million as lower wholesale prices fed into customer tariffs and coal costs increased.

Consumer gas margins contracted 11% to A$138 million, it said, eroding growth in margins from supplying to large businesses.

($1 = 1.5929 Australian dollars)

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australian-power-producer-origin-energys-first-half-profit-jumps-24-2025-02-12/