TransAlta reports first quarter results
• Q1 2009 comparable* earnings per share of $0.18; net earnings per share of $0.21
• Alberta Thermal accelerated major maintenance plans on track
• Strong balance sheet; $1.5 billion in available credit facilities
• Appoints Dawn Farrell to Chief Operating Officer
• Announces 72 megawatt (MW) Ardenville wind farm in southern Alberta
CALGARY, Alberta (Apr. 28, 2009) – TransAlta Corporation (TransAlta) (TSX: TA;
NYSE: TAC) today reported comparable earnings for the first quarter of 2009 of $36
million ($0.18 per share) versus $99 million ($0.50 per share) for the same period in 2008.
Net earnings for the quarter were $42 million ($0.21 per share) compared to $33 million
($0.17 per share) in the first quarter of 2008.
Comparable earnings were lower in the quarter due to approximately 1,000 gigawatt hours
(GWh) of lower production resulting primarily from planned major maintenance activities
and the unplanned derate of TransAlta’s Sundance 4 unit. Net earnings for the quarter were
higher primarily due to the after-tax equity loss recorded in the first quarter of 2008 of $65
million related to the write-down of TransAlta’s Mexico business and to lower income taxes
relative to the same period last year.
“With approximately 95 per cent of our portfolio contracted for the year, we expect to
achieve single-digit comparable earnings growth in 2009 despite deteriorating market drivers
for electricity,” said Steve Snyder, TransAlta’s President and CEO. “We are taking
advantage of these conditions to accelerate our major maintenance plans into the first half of
the year. We are already seeing positive results from these plans on our Alberta Thermal
units and expect availability to return to higher historic levels in the second half of the year.”
Cash flow from operations for the quarter was $83 million compared to $237 million a year
ago. The decline in cash flow from operations was primarily related to the receipt of a $116
million extra PPA payment in the first quarter of 2008 and lower earnings in the quarter due
to an increase in planned and unplanned outages. For the full year, TransAlta expects to
achieve $750 - $850 million in cash flow from operations.
TransAlta’s balance sheet, liquidity and financial ratios remain strong. The company has $2.2
billion of committed credit facilities and as of March 31, 2009, $1.5 billion remained
available.

http://www.transalta.com/transalta/webcm...$File/Q1_2009_Earnings_Rls_Final_CC.pdf