Meridian sees strong second half after testing first six months

Meridian sees strong second half after testing first six months
By Pattrick Smellie Feb 25 (BusinessDesk) - Meridian Energy says it's ready for partial privatisation and expects a significant uplift in operating earnings in the second half after transmission outages and heavy rainfall knocked its performance in the six months to Dec. 31. The state-owned power company's accounts also show a strong positive bounce in the unrealised value of its contracts to service the Bluff aluminium smelter, where the majority owner Rio Tinto is pressing to renegotiate a new long term contract to achieve lower prices. Th...