STORM HITS NORTHERN IRELAND More than 140,000 homes were left without electricity as a severe storm hit Northern Ireland. NIE emergency crews, ably assisted by around 100 Networks staff from ESB and other contractors, worked around the clock to rebuild the network which had been damaged by snow and strong winds.

CONTRIBUTING €1.8BN TO IRISH ECONOMY IN 2012 - ESB ANNOUNCES ANNUAL RESULTS

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» ESB announced an after tax profit of €194m in its Annual Report for 2012, which was published on Wednesday March 13th.

ESB CHAIRMAN, Lochlann Quinn welcomed the results for 2012, saying they showed an overall improvement in Group performance for the year. He said, “This is important as a financially strong ESB can ensure continued investment in important infrastructure in Ireland. Despite continuing challenges in domestic and international markets, we succeeded in raising €1.1b through the issue of new bonds to repay maturing debt and to fund our ongoing investment programme of up to €1b per year.”

The Board is recommending a dividend of €78m, bringing the total dividends to the Irish exchequer to almost €1bn over the past decade. In 2012, ESB contributed €1.8b to the Irish economy in its direct economic activities.

ESB continued its focus on cost-reduction during the year. Recurring annual savings of over €200m have already been achieved under ESB's Performance Improvement Programme, which represents more than 70 percent of the €280m target for 2015 set in 2010. Almost 1,000 staff have left the company since 2010. The financial statement includes an exceptional item of €161m to provide for the costs associated with staff exits in 2012.

During2012, ESB raised €1.1bnthrough the issue of bonds to predominantly European investors and this will support its ongoing infrastructure investment programme. Also, over €600m in project finance facilities were raised to fund the construction of Carrington Power Station in the UK. In recent months two credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, changed the outlook on their rating of ESB (rated BBB+ by both) from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’. This reflects ESB's successful funding and robust financial performance, as well as Ireland's overall economic progress.

The company invested €765m in infrastructure projects during 2012. There was €466m invested in upgrading electricity transmission and distribution network in Ireland to accommodate increases in wind generation and to maintain the resilience of the network.

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CONTRIBUTING €1.8BN TO IRISH ECONOMY IN 2012 - ESB ANNOUNCES ANNUAL RESULTS

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