Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australian power producer AGL Energy's AGL.AX first-half underlying profit beat analysts' estimate on Wednesday, as higher generation volumes at its Bayswater power plant helped offset lower retail margins and higher costs to run plants.
The country's top power producer said underlying profit was A$373 million ($234.80 million) for the six months ended December 31, beating Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$307.4 million, below the A$399 million profit posted last year.
($1 = 1.5886 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Alan Barona)
((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.comRajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))