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DIRECTORS’ REPORT CONTINUED
Company Secretary
Alexandra Finley Dip Law, MLM
Ms Finley is an experienced corporate governance professional with over 15 years legal and commercial experience gained in private
practice and in-house. Prior to joining Spark, she spent almost 10 years with National Australia Bank/MLC in various senior legal and
commercial roles, most recently as Company Secretary of the MLC Group of Companies.
Ms Finley has extensive experience in the financial services sector including mergers and acquisitions, risk management and regulatory
compliance and has held strategic, operational and management roles. As a senior lawyer and senior associate in private practice, her
experience includes property and construction, banking and finance, workplace relations and corporate advisory.
Principal Activity
The principal activity of Spark Infrastructure during the Financial Year was investment in electricity distribution businesses in Victoria and
South Australia. There has been no change in the principal activity during the Financial Year.
Stapled Securities
Spark Infrastructure is a stapled structure, wherein:
• one share in SIH No. 1;
• one share in SIH No. 2;
• one unit in Spark Trust;
• one loan note issued by the responsible entity of Spark Trust; and
• one CHESS Depositary Interest (“CDI”) representing one share in Spark International
are “stapled” and are quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) as if they were a single security.
Review of Operations
The following table provides a summary of key financial performance data:
Financial Year Ended 31 December
Actual Underlying Underlying Change Compared
2008 2008 2007 to Underlying 2007
$’000 $’000 $’000 $’000 %
Interest Income from Associates 88,839 88,839 93,578 (4,739) (5.1)
Share of Equity Accounted Profits 135,822 139,629 127,519 12,110 9.5
224,661 228,468 221,097 7,371 3.3
Other Income 3,945 3,945 3,599 346 9.6
Total Underlying Income 228,606 232,413 224,696 7,717 3.4
Management Fees (9,795) (9,795) (12,019) 2,224 18.5
Senior Debt Interest (28,967) (28,967) (27,921) (1,046) (3.7)
General and Administrative Expenses (3,296) (3,296) (5,202) 1,906 36.6
Profit before Loan Note Interest and Performance Fee 186,548 190,355 179,554 10,801 6.0
Loan Note Interest (“LNI”) (137,390) (137,390) (137,014) (376) (0.3)
Profit before Performance Fee 49,158 52,965 42,540 10,425 24.5
Performance Fee (16,544) (16,544) – (16,544) –
Profit before Tax 32,614 36,421 42,540 (6,119) (14.4)
Income Tax (Expense)/Benefit (23,161) (2,101) (5,651) 3,550 62.8
Profit Attributable to Stapled Security Holders 9,453 34,320 36,889 (2,569) (7.0)
Profit per Security before LNI and Performance Fee (cents) 18.49 18.87 17.80 1.07 6.0
Operating Cash Flow including Investing Activities 181,877 181,877 180,422 1,455 0.8
Net Capital Expenditure – Asset Companies 437,743 437,743 387,171 50,572 13.1
The underlying income and profit summary reflects the operating results of Spark Infrastructure by excluding certain non-cash and
non-operating items which do not relate to the respective year’s underlying performance. The Directors consider that the underlying
results provides users of these reports with a clearer explanation of Spark Infrastructure’s operating performance for the year. The
following adjustments have been made to the reported results of for 2008 in order to calculate the underlying results (2007 figures
have been provided for comparative purposes):
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