Datang International Power Generation Co (大唐國際發電), the second-largest Chinese power producer listed in Hong Kong, may say profit rose 31 percent as it generated more electricity and controlled fuel costs better than rivals.
Net income at the Beijing-based company probably climbed to 1.03 billion yuan (US$124 million), or 0.2 yuan a share, for the first six months from 784.2 million yuan, or 0.15 yuan, a year ago, according to the median estimate of nine analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. Profit estimates ranged from 883 million yuan at Goldman, Sachs & Co and 1.08 billion yuan at UBS AG.
"Datang's first-half results are likely to surprise the market on the upside in our view," said Alice Hui, a Hong Kong-based analyst with UBS Securities Asia Ltd. The company reports earnings Monday.
Demand for electricity in China surged as the economy expanded 9.7 percent in the first half, causing blackouts in the nation's biggest cities and forcing temporary shutdowns at factories run by General Motors Corp, Volkswagen AG and other companies. Coal prices surged amid competition from China's power stations.
Datang increased power generation 38 percent to 25.12 million megawatt-hours in the first half as it expanded capacity and responded to strong demand.
The company's fuel costs increased by about 5 percent in the first half, analysts estimate. Datang probably did better at controlling costs than Huaneng Power International Inc (
Huadian said earlier this week its fuel costs per kilowatt-hour generated rose 13 percent in the first half of the year. Huaneng's costs climbed twice as fast.
Datang's shares are up 3.6 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent decline in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, the benchmark for so called H shares. Huaneng has lost 17 percent while Huadian has fallen 32 percent.
Three of Datang's biggest power plants are near coal mines in China's northern provinces of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, said David Yip, an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co in Hong Kong.
Together, these three plants represent 40 percent of the company's generating capacity.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS