Chairman Michael Fraser said APA was calling time on the US acquisition strategy, which had unnerved some investors worried about the risks the uniquely Australian company was taking in entering a major new market.
“We’ve been examining the U.S. utility market for more than three years, and while there are clearly attractive aspects to this market, it also involves a number of ongoing investment risks and challenges,” Fraser said.
“APA’s core competencies and competitive advantages lie in the Australian market and the focus of our strategy will be to maximize returns to security holders while pursuing the very important investment opportunities arising from Australia’s transition towards a low carbon future”.
Fraser thanked Mr. Wheals has contributed to APA over 14 years with the business, particularly during the last three years as CEO, which included the very challenging operating environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wheals said he was proud to leave APA “in a strong financial and operational position”, noting the decisions made to put the company on the path to net zero carbon emissions. The APA is due to announce provisional emissions targets this week with its annual results.
Kynwynn Strong, managing director of investor relations, will be named acting CFO.
APA also announced interim full-year results, reporting that underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 3.9 percent last year to $1.692 billion. Full audited results are still to be published on Wednesday.
It paid a distribution of 53ยข per value for 2021-22, up 3.9 percent from the previous year and in line with guidance.