Kunlun Energy Company (135) H2 2023 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2023 revenue rose 3.1% to RMB177,354m and profit attributable to shareholders increased 8.7% to RMB5,682m; core profit fell 2.2% to RMB6,144m.

• Natural gas sales volume grew 9.6%; EBITDA rose 8.3% to RMB17,675m.

• A final dividend of RMB28.38 cents per share was proposed.

Financial highlights

• Profit before tax rose 10.5% to RMB12,593m and profit for the year increased to RMB9,255m from RMB8,203m.

• Basic EPS increased 8.7% to RMB65.62 cents; core basic EPS fell 2.2% to RMB70.96 cents.

• Net profit margin rose to 5.22% from 4.77%.

• Core profit excluded RMB461.8m of one-off and non-operating items, including foreign-exchange and PPE impairment losses.

Outlook and guidance

• 2024 operating guidance: retail natural gas sales volume +10%, 800,000 new connected users, LPG sales volume 5.5m tons, LNG terminal utilization 90%, and LNG plant processing volume +7%.

• Strategy priorities include growing natural gas markets, gas-and-new-energy integration, cost pass-through, smart operations, customer services, and ESG governance.

• National natural gas consumption growth is forecast at ~6% in 2024.

• Targeting 1 million kW of new-energy installed capacity by 2025; 4.302 million kW of capacity indicators secured.