Hello, everyone. Welcome to TAQA's [inaudible] Q3 2022 earnings call. My name is Asjad Yahya, I'm [inaudible] Assistant Director Relations of TAQA. I'm joined by our CFO, Steve Ridlington. Before we start, please note that this session is being recorded. By participating in this meeting, you could give consent to the recording. This presentation will follow the usual script. Steve and I will walk you through the operating highlights and the financial performance of this period. Then we'll open the floor for Q&A. With that, I hand over to Steve.
Thank you, Asjad, good morning, good afternoon to everybody on the call today. I'm going to start on slide five as usual, to give an overview of the second quarter, to get us into this. First of all, revenues for the second quarter were up 5%, and that's mainly driven by higher pass-through costs and inflation impacts in our Transmission and Distribution segments. Our profitability, on the other hand, was impacted by the oil and gas business. This is the cumulative effect of lower commodity prices and a fall in production on the back of halting of oil production in Iraq and the natural decline of our late life U.K. assets. However, our underlying utility businesses continued to perform strongly, with both generation and transmission distribution businesses recording an increase in EBITDA.
The decline in our free cash flow is primarily attributable to lower contribution from oil and gas, as well as adjustments to related party balances from previous years. As you may know, we also successfully raised AED 1.5 billion through a bond issuance in the second quarter, including TAQA's first green bond, which was very well received. In July, we received the final decision on RC2 from the Department of Energy. That's the regulatory framework, which included a number of favorable changes, such as an increase in our real regulated return to 4.9%. We'll cover this in more detail in a later slide. Turning to slide six.
Second quarter revenues grew 5%, as I mentioned, and with the main components as follows: First of all, Transmission and Distribution saw revenues up 19% year-on-year, benefiting from an increase in pass-through costs as well as inflation. The decline in generation revenue is mainly due to absence of contribution from Red Oak, following the conclusion of that tolling agreement in Q3 of last year. Oil and gas revenues dropped 13% on lower commodity prices, as well as a decline in production. Group adjusted EBITDA decreased 9% due to a lower profitability of our oil and gas business. In contrast, adjusted EBITDA of Transmission and Distribution grew by 13% year-on-year after higher inflation than RC2 revisions. The impact of RC2 has been applied retroactively from the 1st of January 2023. Generation also recorded a modest 2% year-on-year growth in adjusted EBITDA.
Moving to slide seven. Our net profit for the quarter was AED 1.9 billion, a 17% decrease from Q2 2022. This decline reflected mainly lower adjusted EBITDA. Other items to note below the EBITDA line include interest income, which surged in Q2 2023 on the back of increase in global interest rates. The quarter was also impacted by the recognition of a AED 40 million deferred tax charge, compared to a AED 30 million deferred tax release in Q2 2022. Now I'll take you through some key strategic developments that took place in the recent months. Turning to slide nine. In April, we issued a dual tranche $1.5 billion fixed income bond, including our inaugural green bond. The first tranche was a $500 million, five-year conventional note with a coupon of 4.375%.
The second tranche was a $1 billion, sorry, 10-year green bond with a coupon of 4.696%. TAQA also announced its maiden Green Finance Framework. The framework received a very good sustainability score from Moody's. Last but not least, the order book for the two tranches combined reached about $15 billion, only 10 x oversubscribed. This demonstrates the very strong investor confidence in TAQA. Heading to slide 10. In July, the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy finalized RC2, bringing regulation parity in T&D business for the 2023-2026 period. The new framework is applied retroactively from January 1, 2023, and will last until December 31, 2026.
Notable features of RC2 include a rise in real WACC from 4.6% to 4.9%, an increase in MAR to AED 47.5 billion over 2023-2026. A healthy increase in both OpEx and CapEx allowances, and compensation for UAE Corporate Tax are adjustments to OpEx allowance on an ex-post basis. On slide 11, we've got a reminder of our acquisition of Sustainable Water Solutions Holding Company or SWS. We are proceeding to, we're in the process of expanding our business portfolio through the acquisition of SWS. On completion of the transaction, SWS will enhance TAQA's position as Abu Dhabi's fully integrated utility company by adding wastewater collection, treatment, and reuse capabilities. It will also enhance our ability to further support UAE's net zero ambitions.
The terms of the transaction reflect management's strong focus on value creation while evaluating any M&A transaction. Upon closing, SWS will add AED 16 billion to our regulated asset base, or a near 20% increase, against an acquisition price of AED 4.7 billion. SWS will be subject to the RC2 framework, and as such, is expected to be a highly value-accretive transaction for TAQA. Moreover, the payment terms for the acquisition are highly accretive, with 50% to be paid on completion and the rest one year after completion. I'll now hand over to Asjad to walk through the second performance.
Thank you, Steve. Going through the Transmission and Distribution business first. The business continued to record strong operational performance with network availability at 98.7 Q2. CapEx also recorded a healthy increase as project execution picked up pace in the business. As Steve mentioned, RC2 was approved and implemented, which establishes regulatory visibility for the 2023 to 2026 years, with favorable changes in areas such as WACC, CapEx, and OpEx allowance. We also announced AED 113 million investment in Xlinks First Limited, which is a major project that involves generation and transfer of clean energy from Morocco to the UAE. Moreover, as a continuation of TAQA's strategic objective to help other corporates in Abu Dhabi in reducing their carbon footprint, an AED 8.8 billion project was announced in Q2 to provide sustainable water for ADNOC's offshore operations.
In terms of financial performance, the Transmission and Distribution business proved to be the strongest contributor to the group's top and bottom line in Q2. Revenue recorded a strong 19% year-over-year growth on the back of higher inflation and cross revenue. Adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, recorded a slightly lower 13% year-over-year growth on the back of higher inflation, as well as an increase in WACC and the higher OpEx allowance under RTP. Moving to generation. The business, commission reliability of the business increased by 120 basis points to 98.8% in Q2. This is because last year, certain UAE projects faced forced outages, which have been addressed through corrective maintenance activities, translating into higher availability. Maintenance CapEx was lower during Q2 than the previous year, mainly due to phasing of certain maintenance activities to the second half of the year.
This saving is a result of lower production from our fleet, which was displaced by production from the Barakah nuclear plant. We also invested AED 103 million in Masdar during Q2, bringing our year-to-date investment in Masdar at AED 687 million to become further available. Other notable developments during the quarter include financial close of the AED 2.3 billion [inaudible] Mustaqil, which is set to be the third-largest reserve of reverse osmosis in UAE, and signing of a strategic partnership with the bank. In terms of financial performance, generation revenues declined 9% year-over-year. These are absence of contribution from ADNOC, as explained earlier. These revenue accounted for AED 282 million in Q2 of 2022, and lower, whole cost of revenue contribution to the gap.
Adjusted EBITDA, however, recorded a modest 6% year-over-year growth on the back of higher availability, particularly in the UAE, and lower O&M costs due to the phasing of maintenance. TAQA's share of investment [inaudible] associated with UAE declined sharply, mainly due to lower returns from Sohar Aluminium and limited by strategic plans. In Masdar, in particular, TAQA's share of net income in Q2 was AED 49 million. Moving to the oil and gas business. Oil and gas production was down 6% year-over-year in Q2, due to a combination of production shutdown in Iraq from the 26th of March and natural decline in late life fields. Meanwhile, our midstream business continues to perform strongly, with gas oil revenue filling by 80% at the end of Q2. CapEx for the business increased 30% year-over-year due to drilling, completion, and tying costs for more developments.
The combination of lower commodity prices and decline in production drove a 13% decline in revenue. Average realized oil price declined 16%, while average realized gas price declined 20%. Last but not least, adjusted EBITDA for oil and gas recorded a more significant 26% decline due to a combination of lower revenue and higher operating costs. Now, taking a step back to look at the performance of the first half of the year, revenue increased 5%. Similar to our Q2 numbers, this growth was largely driven by the impact of higher inflation and tax elements in our Transmission and Distribution businesses. In contrast, adjusted EBITDA decreased 10% with the fall mainly driven by the earnings of the O&G business.
Net income for the first half saw a large 200%+ increase, benefiting from a gain of AED 10.8 billion in the recognition of our stake in ADNOC Gas during Q1. We generated free cash flow of AED 6.4 billion during the first half. The decline, or the year-over-year decline is impacted by lower contributions from O&G acquisition. Cash flow was also impacted by higher CapEx as investments took place in Transmission and Distribution in the United Arab. Last but not least, as mentioned earlier, we also invested AED 16.8 billion in Mustaqil during the first half. Moving to our liquidity and debt profile. Balance sheet management continues to be driven by our commitment to maintain strong loan investment-grade base. As seen on this, we completed a AED 1.5 billion issue during Q2, including TAQA's first green bond.
That resulted in the fixed rate debt accounting for 98% of total debt at an effective average interest rate of 4.65%. Maturity also extended slightly to 10.5 years from 10.2 years at the end of 2022. We continue to benefit from the availability of strong liquidity, standing at $12.6 billion. Our leverage increased slightly to 2.6 times, mainly as a result of the decline in EBITDA during the first half of 2022, and our board of directors declared an interim dividend of $0.65 per share for Q2, in line with the 2022 dividend payout policy announced earlier. With that, I hand it back to Asjad over to you to wrap up the presentation.
Thank you, Asjad Yahya. Let's just look at the slide number 20. Just a few points to make here. First of all, our acquisition of SWS will bring new expertise and capabilities to TAQA. It also constitutes another pillar of growth for us. Second, we produced our first sustainability report, which has been published, and it showcases noteworthy TAQA ESG-related advancements. I invite you to review it in the sustainability section of our website. Third, the regulatory revisions under RC2 have raised the real weighted average cost of capital from 4.6% to 4.9%. Fourth, capitalizing on growth opportunities is a key pillar across the business. TAQA has established a Green Finance Framework to issue green bonds, recourse and loans under the Green Finance Framework umbrella.
In the first step, the group also announced a $1.5 billion dual tranche five-year and 10-year bond offering under its Green Finance Framework. Finally, our unwavering commitment to value creation remains a fundamental principle in assessing both organic and inorganic growth opportunities. With that, I'll hand back to you, Asjad. Thank you.
The floor is now open to questions. Please feel free to raise your hand and ask questions, and we will gladly respond to it. Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to raise your hand on Zoom, and we have one. We have a question from Stella, [inaudible] create a delivery for the [inaudible] international secondary name. What will be your first step to the use of the issues from the green bond?
Yeah, thank you, Stella. Well, the green bond that we issued in April was very specifically allocated to the purchase in our shares in Masdar, which was obviously completed slightly before that, but we were able to allocate some of that to raise some of on that basis. Almost all of those fees were for Masdar. Going forward, we will consider new green bond issues against very specific green bond initiatives and investments.
Any other questions, please feel free to raise your hand again on Zoom, and we'll respond. Doesn't look like we have any more questions. Asjad, would you like to-
I think so. If, if there, if there are no more questions, just give it maybe another 5 to 10 seconds, in case something, otherwise, we'll, we'll wrap up.
Another question from [inaudible] Sharuk Suneet. How does the outlook look for O&G business? Any major CapEx planned there with the O&G at the back?
Thank you, Sharuk. The outlook for Oil & Gas business, it is the business that we invest least in. And that's against our commitment that we will maintain the assets that we currently have and optimize and run them for maximum value to the company. All of our plans are invested in the existing fields. In terms of where we may invest, it's really focused on Canada, which is our largest oil and gas asset, with plentiful opportunities to sustain and production and maintain reserve life. Most of our effort will go there. We're currently spending of the order of $200 million a year on investing in Canada to maintain production.
That involves investing with our partners, because we have partners in drilling new wells to sustain production. I think that kind of figure is what we'll be looking at going forward. In Iraq, very little to say, given we have a production shutdown. In the U.K., again, limited investments, as those assets are, are very, very large. I think the focus will be on Canada and of the order of magnitude that I just mentioned.
Again, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know, and I can get you help. All right. Thank you very much. It looks like there's no more questions. Thank you very much for joining us on this webcast. We look forward to speaking to you again, and we also anticipate doing, doing our interactions in the quarter or depending on the quarter, our next webcast. Thank you.
Thank you.