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ENN Energy, one of the largest private gas distributors in China, said that its first-half revenue decline by 7.2% year over year to 54.1 billion yuan as domestic demand remained weak due to high gas procurement costs and a disappointing industrial recovery.
Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 3.333 billion yuan, rising by 7.3% from a year earlier. Earnings per share was 2.95 yuan. The company declared an interim dividend of HK64 cents, the same as a year earlier.
Total gas sales volumes fell by 6.9% to 12.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) due to high gas prices and subdued domestic demand, owing to a gloomy macroeconomic picture, it said, adding that China’s domestic cost of imported gas remained high due to delayed adjustments in pricing in long-term supply agreements.
Industrial usage was a particular weak spot with the new installed daily capacity for industrial customers falling by 11.8% against last year, however, its construction and installation business was a bright spot, supporting the group’s gross profit margin rise by 1.4 percentage points on last year.