The Contact Energy Ltd (ASX: CEN) share price is in focus after the company posted higher mass market electricity and gas sales and reported lower generation costs for February 2026.
What did Contact Energy report?
- Mass market electricity and gas sales rose to 295GWh (Feb 2025: 237GWh)
- Average customer netback held steady at $160.23/MWh (Feb 2025: $159.57/MWh)
- Contracted wholesale electricity sales reached 816GWh (Feb 2025: 632GWh)
- Unit generation cost dropped to $41.70/MWh (Feb 2025: $70.95/MWh)
- Electricity generated (or acquired) totalled 809GWh (Feb 2025: 675GWh)
- Average electricity sales price rose to $380.72/MWh (Feb 2025: $341.24/MWh)
What else do investors need to know?
Contact Energy’s wholesale business saw a notable fall in unit generation costs and higher electricity sales, which points to improving operational efficiency. However, electricity and steam net revenue per megawatt hour declined to $122.35 from $133.15 a year ago, reflecting some pricing or mix changes.
Hydro storage on 16 March 2026 was healthy, with South Island at 98% and North Island at 164% of mean levels. February 2026 inflows into the Clutha catchment, though, were 73% of the mean, following strong inflows in previous months.
Contact is progressing with three major renewable projects, including Glenbrook-Ohurua Battery (Q1 CY26), KÅwhai Park Solar (Q2 CY26), and Te Mihi Stage 2 geothermal (Q3 CY27).
What’s next for Contact Energy?
Contact Energy is firmly focused on expansion and transition to renewables, with several large projects under construction and over $1 billion invested in new solar, battery, and geothermal facilities through 2027.
Equity analysts’ FY26 EBITDAF forecasts have been summarised, with consensus in the $965 million to $995 million range, depending on Manawa integration costs. The company is not endorsing individual forecasts.
Contact Energy share price snapshot
Over the past 12 months, Contact Energy shares have declined 4%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 10% over the same period.
The post Contact Energy posts higher sales and lower costs in February 2026 report 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.