Datang Power sees profit slump by 79% in 2008

Datang International Power Generation posted a 79% year-on-year decline in net profit in 2008 to US$111 million in 2008, Bloomberg reported. Earnings came in at US$111 million while sales increased 12% to US$5.4 billion. The company put the poor performance down to higher fuel costs in the first half of the year and reduced power demand in the fourth quarter as exports slumped. Datang, the country’s second-largest electricity producer, increased output 7.1% to 126.7 million megawatt-hours last year. It plans to take this to 150 million megawatt-hours in 2009, up 18% year-on-year. According to Hou Yong, director of information at the China Electricity Council, the country may face an oversupply of electricity this year as demand growth slows while new generating projects are built to help stimulate the economy. He expects electricity use to rebound in the second-half and perhaps increase by 5% for 2009 as a whole.