A decision on whether the Government will be able to start the sale programme is at least a week away as it consults its legal advisers and support parties in Parliament.
A decision must be made within three weeks to give Mighty River Power - the first off the block for a partial NZX listing - time to release its prospectus and do investor briefings before a pre-Christmas listing.
Otherwise, the whole sales programme is at risk.
On Friday, the Waitangi Tribunal said the Government should halt its privatisation policy while it changed the constitutions of its electricity companies to allow input into how they were run.
The Government plans to partially sell Mighty River Power, Genesis Energy, Meridian and producer of coal Solid Energy.
It also plans to sell down its holding in Air New Zealand.
The sales programme is set to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion.
Genesis yesterday reported operating earnings of $392.65 million for the year ended June, up 34% from $292.65 million in the previous corresponding period.
However, the reported profit of $90.25 million was a substantial turnaround from the loss of $16.6 million reported in the pcp.
A full year's earnings from its Tekapo A and B hydro stations, bought from Meridian Energy part-way through the previous year, and higher wholesale electricity prices were the main reasons driving the result.
Last year's result included a $68 million one-off non-cash revaluation loss.
Genesis would not pay a dividend, in line with the policy adopted when it was required to buy the Tekapo assets under Government-driven electricity reforms.
It expected to resume paying dividends in the current financial year.
The company also revealed it had to set aside $125 million for repairs on the Tekapo canal, which had produced new leaks.
With increased focus on seismic risk in the Canterbury region, the current risk of progressive canal failure was considered in excess of normally accepted levels, Genesis said.
Chairwoman Dame Jenny Shipley said the gains in the operating profit reflected the higher wholesale prices and increased generation.
They were offset by higher wholesale electricity purchase costs, transmission and distribution costs and the costs of selling surplus gas contracted as part of the "take or pay" arrangements.
"The improved financial performance was achieved against a backdrop of volatile wholesale electricity market conditions over the past year."
The early part of the year was characterised by moderate water inflows, the latter by low; resulting in low hydro storage lake levels.
However, several large rainfalls at the start of winter affected both the North and South Islands, and there was a return to near average storage at the end of the financial year, Dame Jenny said.
The strong result endorsed the company's strategy to balance value and efficiency with customer demand, she said.
"The electricity and gas market for domestic and commercial users has been characterised by intense competition the past few years between suppliers.
"New Zealand has one of the highest electricity customer churn rates in the world," Dame Jenny said.
