The Contact Energy Ltd (ASX: CEN) share price is in focus today after the company reported rising electricity and gas sales for December 2025, along with strong wholesale net revenue and increased customer connections.
What did Contact Energy report?
- Mass market electricity and gas sales reached 340GWh, up from 274GWh in December 2024.
- Customer netback climbed to $168.91/MWh (December 2024: $156.56/MWh).
- Contracted wholesale electricity sales rose to 950GWh (December 2024: 699GWh).
- Total electricity and steam net revenue grew to $103.94/MWh (December 2024: $98.75/MWh).
- Contact total customer connections rose to 668,000 (December 2024: 635,000).
- Unit generation cost increased to $38.18/MWh (December 2024: $30.68/MWh).
What else do investors need to know?
Contact’s mass market electricity and gas sales outperformed last year, with higher netbacks supporting profitability. Wholesale electricity and contracted sales also saw strong gains, while customer numbers continued to grow.
The company’s renewable projects are progressing, including the Glenbrook-Ohurua battery expected online in Q1 CY26 and the Kowhai Park Solar project targeted for Q2 CY26. Meanwhile, the TCC plant has moved into decommissioning, reflecting Contact’s shift towards renewables. December inflows into the Clutha catchment remained robust, with storage levels well above the long-term mean, supporting reliability.
What’s next for Contact Energy?
Contact is ramping up its renewable generation, with several major solar, battery, and geothermal developments underway. Management has also guided for further integration of recent acquisitions and expects continued growth in both retail and wholesale markets.
The company plans to keep building its sustainable energy portfolio, supporting New Zealand’s net zero ambitions and providing value to a growing customer base.
Contact Energy share price snapshot
Over the past 12 months, Contact Energy shares have declined 6%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 4% over the same period.
The post Contact Energy posts higher sales and renewables progress in December update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.
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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.
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