The result is linked to the major changes undertaken by the company in the last year, which included changing its name from Prime Infrastructure and forging closer ties with its responsible entity Babcock and Brown Limited.

BBI also grew its portfolio to more than $4.5 billion of assets from $1.3 billion, and raised $600 million of capital.

Among those portfolio additions were Australian electricity and gas supplier Powerco, which contributed $A176m of revenue from November 1 2004.

BBI (then trading as Prime Infrastructure) also acquired of the UK-based gas transporter International Energy Group (IEG) in May, which contributed one month’s revenue ($A13m) from June 1 2005.

Despite its throughput tonnage increasing by 7.0 million tonnes, DBCT profits were down from $A96.8 million to $A85.7 million. The decrease was due to the application of the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) final decision on DBCT access arrangements for 2005, which capped DBCT net service revenue at $85.7 million for the year.

BBI said its track record of share distribution growth had been maintained, with the company having paid shareholders tax deferred distributions of 10.75c per stapled security, ahead of expectations at the beginning of the fiscal year.

“The 2005 financial year was an important year for BBI in positioning the fund on its strategic course and I am very impressed with the level of achievement delivered by the team over the period,” BBI’s recently appointed chief executive Steve Boulton said.