Power company TrustPower is picking a flat annual profit after a mild winter and lower South Island wholesale prices led to a drop in its half-year surplus.
Excluding unrealised and one-off tax changes, TrustPower's underlying profit fell 12% to $63.8 million in the six months to September.
TrustPower chief executive Vince Hawksworth says earnings suffered because of a lack of wind at its Australian operations, lower customer demand due to the mild winter, and lower South Island wholesale prices.
But Mr Hawksworth says it's a satisfactory result, and he's forecasting a similar full year profit to last year's $117 million.
Customer numbers dropped 1% to 220,000 due to intense competition.
