News: UPDATE 1-Australia's AGL Energy fast-tracks renewables with U.S. investment

• H1 underlying NPAT A$375 mln vs A$336 mln analysts
• H1 net loss A$449 mln vs A$308 mln net profit previous year
• Buys $20 mln investment in U.S.-based Sunverge Energy

(Recasts on batteries, adds CEO quote, shares)

AGL Energy Ltd (AGL), Australia's No.2 energy retailer, posted a first-half loss of A$449 million ($317 million) as it quit the gas production business and fast-tracked a move into renewable energy by buying a stake in a U.S. battery maker.

A week after closing the door on a decade-long attempt to enter the coal-seam gas production business, AGL said on Wednesday it would buy a $20 million minority stake in Sunverge Energy, giving it exclusive rights to sell the company's renewable storage product in Australia.

"We could have built a capability internally and maybe in three years we would have had an OK technology, (so) we decided to go out and view the market and invest in somebody who's the best globally in it," AGL Chief Executive Officer Andy Vesey told Reuters in a telephone interview.

AGL also said it planned to start a renewable energy development fund with an initial investment of A$200 million. The company will tap Australia's A$2 trillion pension fund industry for investments with a target of raising up to A$3 billion.

The company's net loss for the six months to end-December compared with a A$308 million profit a year ago. Underlying earnings rose 24.2 percent to A$375 million, better than analyst expectations of A$336 million.

AGL said its full-year underlying profit would be in the upper half of a guidance range of A$650 million to A$720 million, "subject to normal trading conditions for the remainder of the year".

The company declared an interim dividend of 32 Australian cents per share fully franked, up two cents per share from a year ago.

AGL shares were down 0.6 percent in early trading, in line with the broader market. ($1 = 1.4148 Australian dollars)