Huaneng Power International (0902.HK, 600011.SH, HNP.NYSE) posted a profit of US$744 million for 2009, compared to a loss of US$521.4 million a year earlier, on the back of higher tariffs and lower fuel costs, Bloomberg reported. Sales rose 10% to US$11.7 billion and output jumped 10.2% to 203.5 kilowatt hours. The company, a unit of Huaneng Group, China’s biggest electricity producer, benefited from two government-mandated tariff hikes in the third quarter of 2008. The increases were intended to compensate power producers for high fuel costs that could not be passed on to end users. However, costs have since fallen, with delivery prices at Qinhuangdao port, a domestic benchmark, slumping by as much as 43% last year. In January, Huaneng announced plans to raise US$1.3 billion through the sale of new A-shares in order to help reduce debt and finance new projects.
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