HONG KONG — China Renewable Energy Investment Limited (“CRE” or the “Company”, and with its subsidiaries, collectively, the “Group”) (HKEx: 987) announced today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016.
Results Highlights:
– Net profit attributable to equity holders increases 51% to HK$61.1 million (2015: HK$40.5 million)
– Basic net profit per share at HK2.59 cents per share (2015: HK1.72 cents per share)
– Net asset value per share of HK66.47 cents per share
– CRE’s wind farm utilisation hours at 2,038 hours are now 17% higher than the national average of 1,742 hours
In 2016, the Group recorded turnover of HK$131.0 million as compared to HK$132.9 million in 2015. Gross profit was HK$43.8 million as compared to HK$44.3 million in 2015. Wind resources were actually slightly above the previous year’s level.
However, depreciation of the Renminbi accounted for the slight decline in turnover and gross profit. The Group’s Associate companies continued to perform well, and accounted for much of the increased profit.
The wind farms under the associated companies contributed profits of HK$72.0 million, an increase of 18% compared to 2015. With careful control over costs and lower interest costs, the Group recorded a net profit after tax attributable to the equity holders of HK$61.1 million for 2016 (2015: a net profit after tax of HK$40.5 million).
Basic earnings per share was HK2.59 cents as compared to the previous year of HK1.72 cents per share.
Mr. Eric Oei, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CRE, said, “Although smaller than the state owned enterprises (“SOEs”), we believe that we have some of the most profitable wind farms in the country. Unlike SOEs whose mandate is growth, CRE is a private developer and focuses more on high returns for its shareholders. As a result, we have been much more selective in deciding which wind farms to invest in. The Group currently has seven wind farms with a total gross capacity of 660 MW (net equity capacity of 341MW). In 2016, the wind farms generated an average of 2,038 utilisation hours, 296 hours or 17% above the national average of 1,742 hours. Moreover, reflecting our ability to continually improve our performance, we increased our utilisation hours at a much higher rate than the national average. In 2016, our utilisation hours increased 55 hours, whereas the national average increased only 14 hours. As a result, we believe that we are generating far more cash per MWh of installed capacity compared to the national average.”
Danjinghe and Changma performed particularly well as these two wind farms were obtained through national tender, and are given favorable treatment. Therefore, they experienced little or no curtailment. Furthermore, CRE’s Lunaobao wind farm profits were higher than expected as curtailment was reduced from 28% to 15% due to the recent upgrade of the transmission network and completion of three 500 Kilo-Volt substations in the Zhangbei region.
In addition, progress continues on the construction of new Ultra-High-Voltage transmission lines, which the Group hopes will help reduce curtailment in 2017.
The Company is also optimistic over its growth outlook. In the fourth quarter of 2016, it received final project approvals from the Luoyang Municipal Development and Reform Commission for the construction of a wholly-owned 74MW wind power project (“Project”) located in Songxian County of Luoyang City in Henan Province.
Construction of the Project has begun and is expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2018, which will increase the Group’s net wind capacity by 22%. The region experiences little curtailment, so the new wind farm is expected to contribute significantly to the Group’s future earnings. – BusinessNewsAsia.com