WHAUP to see healthier figures in second half
SET-listed WHA Utilities and Power (WHAUP) expects to rack up more revenue in the second half after lower earnings in the first six months, when the utilities and water segments were hit by drought.
From January to June, revenue dropped 10.7% year-on-year to 834.2 million baht, mainly due to lower utilities sales at industrial estates.
“Revenue from water business fell 12.7% year-on-year to 813.6 million baht, while earnings from power plummeted 616% to 20.6 million baht,” said WHAUP chief executive Niphon Bundechanan.
Unusually low rainfall prompted the government to ask industrial estates to reduce water use by 10%.
But the situation improved with the start of the rainy season, and Mr Niphon expects businesses to return to their normal operations.
WHAUP provides utilities services to factories at industrial estates owned by its mother firm, WHA Corporation Plc.
The company plans to further expand utilities businesses, including reusing treated water, at four industrial estate development projects in Thailand and Vietnam.
It also plans to provide 400,00 cubic metres of water annually to the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation project in Rayong.
In the renewable energy segment, WHAUP installed solar panels on the rooftops of car park buildings at a WHA-owned Eastern Seaboard industrial estate (second phase), with capacity of 4.9 megawatts. The electricity has been sold to MG Sales Thailand.
WHAUP plans to operate additional solar power generation of 40MW by the end of the year.
The company yesterday reported its net profit for the first six months of 2020, down 71.8% at 360.9 million baht, partly due to higher interest-bearing debt. But the cost of funds remains favourable, management said.
A closer look at second-quarter performance showed that total revenue dropped 15% year-on-year to 403.9 million baht.
In this period, revenue from utilities fell 17.6% year-on-year to 390.2 million baht. But earnings from power leapt 821.9% year-on-year to 13.7 million baht.
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