Net Loss Attributable to Equity Holders of the Company Amounts to Rmb544 Million
BEIJING, Aug. 27 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Huaneng Power International, Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: HNP; HKEx: 902; SSE: 600011) announced today its unaudited operating results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2008.
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Consolidated Operating revenues of the Company and its subsidiaries for the first half of 2008 amounted to RMB30.737 billion (equivalent to approximately US$4.481 billion), representing an increase of 32.81% compared to the same period last year. Loss attributable to the equity holders of the Company amounted to RMB544 million (equivalent to approximately US$79 million). Loss per share was RMB0.05, or RMB2 (equivalent to US$0.29) for each American Depositary Share (ADS).
During the first half of 2008, the Company actively dealt with a number of unforeseeable events including freezing rainstorm, snowstorms and the mega earthquake disaster in Wenchuan, and strived to overcome the impact of adverse factors including tight coal supply and a drastic increase in coal prices. All the staff have done their utmost and struggled tenaciously and achieved new development in various aspects including production safety, sales and marketing, energy saving, environmental protection, project development and capital operation.
On power generation, the Company’s power plants within China achieved a total power generation of 91.448 billion kWh based on a consolidated basis during the first half of 2008, representing an increase of 13.43% over the same period last year. Moreover, during the first half of 2008, Singapore Tuas Power Ltd. achieved a total power generation of 5.042 billion kWh, an increase of 0.21% when compared to 5.031 billion kWh of the same period last year, of which 2.786 billion kWh was vested in the power generation of the Company (from 25 March, the consolidated financial statement date).
As regards cost controls, at the beginning of 2008, coal supply was extremely tight due to the impact of the rainstorm and snowstorm disaster in South China, thereby resulting in a larger increase in market coal prices. Since stocking of coal started in April in preparation for the summer peak load, the price of thermal coal has risen drastically again. With the continued rise in spot coal prices, the difference between key contract prices and spot purchase prices continued to widen. Certain key contract suppliers also raised the supply prices on top of the substantial price increase in the key coal supply contracts for 2008. This further increased the difficulty in controlling purchase prices and brought about tremendous pressure on the Company’s cost control. The Company actively adopted various measures including adjusting the purchase structure, controlling the purchase volume of high-price thermal coal, raising the fulfillment rates of high-quality and low-cost coal, strengthening quality management of coal used in power plants, appropriately increasing the volume of imported coal, enhancing transportation efficiency and centralizing verification and settlement, so as to control coal purchase costs to the greatest extent. The unit fuel cost of the Company’s domestic business for the first half of the year was RMB226.78/MWh, an increase of 34.03% compared to the same period last year on a comparable basis.
The Company attached great importance to energy saving and environmental protection work. All the newly built generating units are equipped with flue-gas desulphurization facilities and the Company has strengthened environmental protection renovation work on the existing generating units. During the first half of 2008, twelve desulphurized generating units with a total generation capacity of 5,522 MW have commenced operation. As at 30 June 2008, the Company has installed desulphurization generating units with a total generation capacity of 24,582MW, accounting for approximately 70% of the controlling generation capacity of the existing coal-fired units of the Company.
As regards project development and construction, the Company made smooth progress on its construction projects and preparation work of its power projects. On 1 July 2008, a 600MW coal-fired generating unit (Unit 5) at Shangan Power Plant commenced commercial operation. As at 31 July 2008, the Company’s generation capacity on an equity basis reached 36,993MW, with the controlling generation capacity at 40,389MW. The projects-under-construction and other proposed projects of the Company progressed smoothly.
As regards capital operation, in the first half of 2008, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% interest in SinoSing Power Pte. Ltd. ("SinoSing Power"). The operating scale of the Company was further enlarged and its generation capacity increased by 2,670MW on an equity basis, representing an increase of 7.9%.
The national economy will continue to grow at a relatively fast pace in the second half of the year, thus providing a favorable external environment for the Company. A series of policies and rules on raising electricity tariffs and restricting coal prices implemented by the State have created conditions for easing the operating pressure of the Company. Moreover, the successive implementation of the State’s energy saving and environmental protection policies and the relevant measures will be instrumental in improving the operating conditions of the Company’s energy-saving and environmentally friendly generating units. At the same time, the Company also faces various difficulties and challenges. The situation of tight coal supply, surging prices and declining quality will bring about a drastic increase in the unit fuel costs of the Company and it is anticipated that the increase in unit fuel costs of the Company for the whole year will not be lower than that for the first half of the year. The tightening of the State’s monetary policies resulted in rising borrowing costs for the Company. Given that there is an increase in the number of newly operated generating units nationwide, the power supply and demand situation was further eased and the utilization hours of coal-fired generating units nationwide declined. The Company strives to achieve an average utilization hours of over 5,500 hours for domestic coal-fired generating units for the whole year. The State controls the scale of fixed assets investment and becomes stricter in approving power projects and puts forward stricter requirements for the development of new projects of the Company in the future.
The major operation plans for the second half of the year include: to actively reflect to the State the current operating conditions of the power-generating sector and to strive for improvement of the operating environment; to strengthen optimization work of power generation mix; to use the best endeavours to ensure fuel supply and to strive to enhance the fulfilment rates of planned contracts and control market purchase prices; to promote energy saving and emission reduction work in full force and to actively commence detailed management of energy consumption indices and optimized operation of generating units; to strengthen internal management and to effectively control financing costs; to actively push forward preliminary work of projects, to further optimize power plants structure and to adjust their deployment; and to strengthen the management of infrastructure construction, ensuring safe, stable and economical operation of newly operated generating units so as to meet the requirements of energy-saving and environmentally friendly generating units.
To view Huaneng Power International, Inc. Financial Statement, please visit:
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/huaneng/20080827/Huaneng_ERN.pdf .
Huaneng Power International, Inc. has a total generation capacity of 36,993MW on an equity basis and a controlling installed generation capacity of 40,389MW. The Company wholly owns sixteen operating power plants, an operating power company, and has controlling interests in thirteen operating power companies and minority interests in five operating power companies. Currently, it is one of the largest listed power producers in China.
For any details regarding the interim results, please refer to the following websites:
Hong Kong Stock Exchange: http://www.hkexnews.com.hk .
The Company: http://www.hpi.com.cn and http://www.hpi-ir.com.hk .
Encl: The unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet and
condensed consolidated interim income statement of the Company and
its subsidiary for the six months period ended June 30, 2008,
prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards.
For enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Meng Jing or Ms. Zhao Lin
Huaneng Power International, Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6649-1856 or +86-10-6649-1866
Fax: +86-10-6649-1860
Email: zqb@hpi.com.cn
Ms. Carrie Lam or Mr. Karl Cheung
Rikes Hill & Knowlton Limited
Tel: +852-2520-2201
Fax: +852-2520-2241
