State-run utility Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it was “highly possible” the company could turn its financial situation around this year after reporting profits from May on the back of lower fuel costs.
The New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation against the US dollar and higher summer electricity rates also boosted the company’s bottom line, Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said.
Electricity rates are about 20 percent higher on average during the summer, while power consumption usually soars 40 percent over other seasons because of higher temperatures, Taipower data showed.
Photo: CNA
Revenue rose 16 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year to NT$409.3 billion (US$13.44 billion), while fuel costs fell about 7 percent, the company said.
Net losses narrowed sharply to NT$15.5 billion from NT$60.2 billion a year earlier, and the firm’s gross margin improved to 0.15 percent from minus-11.87 percent, company data showed.
That was the first time in about four years that Taipower’s gross margin returned to positive territory.
The figures suggest that “it is highly possible for the company to break even this year,” Tseng said.
What remains at stake is resolving Taipower’s accumulated losses of more than NT$400 billion, which would require government subsidies to clear, he added.
Despite the improvement to its bottom line, it is unclear if Taipower would again freeze electricity rates in October after it kept rates unchanged in April.
The company is slated to review rates next month, with any adjustments to be determined by the government’s electricity price review committee, Taipower spokesman Tsai Chih-meng (蔡志孟) said.
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