Origin has reported huge profits in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Source: Nick Pitsas, Wikimedia Commons
One of Australia’s largest energy companies, Origin Energy, has reported a surge in profits of 83.5 per cent for the financial year ending 2023 – a net annual profit of $1.06 billion.
The company’s annual report, released on Thursday morning, revealed that its underlying earnings (the company’s total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) rose dramatically from $2.11 billion in 2022 to $3.12 billion this year.
Frank Calabria, CEO of Origin, said “elevated commodity prices” and declining coal supply costs were the main reasons for the surge in profits.
However, those outside of the Australian Stock Exchange are not convinced and are questioning whether the company’s savings were being passed onto consumers.
Less than two years ago, Origin announced its customers’ energy bills would rise by up to 25 per cent – hundreds of dollars per year – due to ‘higher prices from inflation and increased wholesale costs.’
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said that, considering this information, the company’s huge profit surge would “come as a shock to many energy consumers.”
“Australians will find it hard to swallow that Origin can post such an enormous increase in profits especially when we hear heartbreaking stories of people going without heating, hot water or sacrificing lighting their homes at night just to be able to make ends meet,” said ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell.
“Customers will rightly wonder how these big energy companies can justify such large profits, especially as Origin reports that it is due partly to [the fact that] the cost of purchasing energy for them has fallen, and they have failed to promptly pass on those savings to consumers.”
Origin’s gas prices also skyrocketed in January, with some household tariffs increasing by 22.1 per cent, or $370 a year.
Origin’s profit surge comes just a week after Commonwealth Bank revealed its record profit surge, reaching $10.2 billion in full-year net profit after tax, as well as Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, reporting an annual profit of $2.1 billion.
