2010 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Investors
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Message from Mick McCormack It is a great pleasure to deliver our first sustainability report to all APA stakeholders. This report communicates a number of initiatives we have put in place to continue the success that APA has delivered during the past decade. APA is a relatively young organisation and three years ago we strategically shifted to an internally-operated business. This change involved integrating over 1,000 employees into the business and establishing management and operations processes designed to deliver continuous improvement and sustainable growth. Customers, communities and employees will always be the central part of APA’s culture. Working together with our customers, APA has delivered infrastructure solutions that provide the nation with energy security, industrial and mining operations with a clean reliable fuel, and Australian homes with hot showers on a cold morning. Our success has been delivered by our people having industry-leading knowledge and understanding of the Australian gas infrastructure sector. Much of APA’s success can also be attributed to our focus on building a sustainable business through strategic investment in attractive long-term assets. APA has successfully differentiated itself from the market with an internally-operated model, generating value from efficiencies and rewarding its investors with growth in distributions year-on-year. The strength of our business was evident during the global financial crisis when we were able to refinance debt and source additional capital to grow, while a number of similar organisations were forced to scale-back their growth plans. Our assets and employees are located across the country and we continue to work closely with our surrounding communities through charities and local programs to add value. We are continually evaluating the future design of the Australian energy landscape and assessing the medium-term value of our assets and potential growth opportunities. We have begun to implement carbon systems and reporting to manage the business in the new carbon-constrained economy. APA is also supporting a carbon policy that provides an economic incentive for large energy users to adopt cleaner fuels such as gas, which has roughly half the carbon intensity of coal. Over the next decade, APA is well positioned to play a major role in providing supporting gas infrastructure to facilitate Australia’s transition to cleaner fuels. Mick McCormack Managing Director APA Group APA ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 21 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT APA sustainability performance OUR PURPOSE To be Australia’s number one energy infrastructure business. Our success will be founded upon the strengthening and diversification of our asset footprint. CUSTOMERS EMPLOYEES ENVIRONMENT COMMUNITY INVESTORS Delivering value Providing a safe, Continuing to Positively Continuing to to our customers stimulating and deliver an engaging the be a reliable and creating rewarding environmentally communities and attractive responsive workplace where responsible, safe within which investment which solutions to our employees can and essential we operate. delivers superior their needs. learn and grow. service. returns for securityholders. Our objectives, performance and key actions for next year Stakeholder strategic objectives 2010 performance Actions for 2011 Customers 1. Provide our customers a market- • Continued development of the • Implement new customer leading service, including Australian east coast pipeline grid management system. responding to critical events when and pipeline services for the • Respond to customer needs and our customers are negatively short-term gas trading market. continue to develop optimal energy impacted. • Provided gas storage solutions for solutions with customers. 2. Deliver value to customers by customers, Origin Energy and • Provide new gas storage products. utilising the capacity of APA’s Victoria Electricity. assets. 3. Work with customers to provide optimal investment and energy market solutions to maintain a pipeline of growth projects. Employees 1. Committed to a long-term LTI rate1 • Reduced LTI rate of 4.9 compared • Reduce LTI rate to 4.0. target of ‘Zero Harm’ by continually with 2009 LTI rate of 7.3. • Maintain an employee engagement improving safety in the workplace. • Achieved 71% employee score above 70%. 2. Provide employees a stimulating engagement score. • Continue to deliver technical, and rewarding environment so that • 290 senior and front line leaders learning and development courses they would recommend APA as commenced leadership and to employees. a great place to work. Achieve an development programs. engagement survey score greater than 70%. • Sponsored employee teams to participate in health focused 3. Provide learning and development activities such as the Global programs to attract, retain and Corporate Challenge. develop employees. • The scope of the technical training department was expanded to continue delivering improved training 1.L ost time injury rate is measured as the across all operations. number of lost time claims per million hours 22 APA ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 Stakeholder strategic objectives 2010 performance Actions for 2011 Environment 1. Contribute to policy and respond • Engaged with political parties to • Contribute to carbon policy to climate change initiatives to promote the role of gas in the discussions and promote the role promote the use of gas as essential carbon-constrained economy, of gas as a major contributor in to a cleaner energy mix. directly and via industry associations. achieving meaningful emission 2. Include the environment in all • Through the Australian Pipeline reduction targets. investment and procurement Industry Association (“APIA”), • Contribute to the review of the decision-making. Comply with our engaged with the Department National Greenhouse and Energy emissions reporting obligations. of Climate Change and Energy Reporting (measurement) Conserve and rehabilitate the Efficiency to refine gas infrastructure Determination methodology. natural state of the land we disturb. emissions and energy measurement • Continue to evaluate energy project 3. Evaluate complementary clean methods. opportunities arising from the shift energy projects. • Invested in the North Brown Hill to renewable energy. Wind Farm. • Establish a water management strategy. • Participate in the APIA Carbon and Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program. Community 1. Positively engage with the • Sponsored NAPCAN, Exodus • Implement our Community communities within which Foundation and Beyond Empathy. Investment Program which will APA operates. • Encouraged company wide include volunteering opportunities 2. Build long-term strategic participation in charity and for employees, workplace giving and community relationships to community events - World’s Greatest a more structured approach to maintain community support and Shave, Clean Up Australia, National sponsorships. goodwill for APA’s activities. Breast Cancer Foundation and • Maintain sponsorship of NAPCAN, 3. Employee connection with local Movember. Exodus Foundation and Beyond communities through sponsorships, • Participated in a Beyond Empathy Empathy. employee volunteering and giving program, targeting disadvantaged • Continue participation in company programs targeting our vulnerable and at risk indigenous girls. wide charity and community events. communities. Investors 1. Reliable and sustainable growth in • Achieved distribution growth of 5.6%. • Continue long-term growth in distributions to investors by focusing • Maintained investment grade BBB distributions to securityholders. on long-term revenue and costs. rating and assigned second • Maintain credit ratings. 2. Maintain a strong and robust equivalent credit rating of Baa2. • Continue to evaluate additional balance sheet. • Commenced or continued revenue streams in related energy 3. Indentify and evaluate additional capacity expansion and growth businesses. attractive infrastructure-style projects in response to investments in related energy customers’ requirements. businesses. APA ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 23 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Customers “APA continues to be Delivering value to our customers developing commercial arrangements and creating responsive solutions and internal systems to provide a significant provider to their needs. a seamless service interface – a “one-stop-shop” for customers. As Australia’s largest natural gas of AGL Energy’s gas In preparation for the new east coast infrastructure business, APA strives to short-term gas trading market, APA transportation and deliver industry-leading services. We is developing new pipeline services maintain a close relationship with our storage services. to assist customers to manage their customers, working with them to requirements. As the gas market provide optimal solutions, and continues to evolve delivering them quality and timely Delivering value services by fully utilising APA’s assets. APA and AGL Energy and energy solutions APA has long-term relationships with AGL Energy large, creditworthy customers, such as are working together APA provides gas transportation and AGL Energy, Origin Energy, TRUenergy storage services to AGLEnergy. AGL to explore and and Santos. APA also operates in the Energy and APA have a long history mineral provinces in Western Australia develop opportunities together and continue to work closely and Queensland providing services to develop infrastructure and service to deliver flexible to BHP Billiton, Newmont, Xstrata