The delivery by H share Huaneng Power International of strong interim results has prompted analysts to upgrade their forecasts on its full-year performance.
Lehman Brothers, HSBC Securities, ABN Amro and CLSA Emerging Markets have upgraded their forecast for the company by between 1.6 per cent and 14.33 per cent to between 3.77 billion yuan (about HK$3.53 billion) and 4.36 billion yuan for the year to December 31.
Huaneng's control of costs other than labour costs prompted the upgrades.
Huaneng, China's largest independent power producer, reported on Wednesday its net profit was 1.77 billion yuan in the first half, up 14.05 per cent from a year earlier.
The deepest reduction in cost was in finance expenses - down 56.15 per cent to 200.28 million yuan. This lessened the effect of a 22.77 per cent jump in fuel costs to 2.86 billion yuan, caused by rising coal prices.
Lehman Brothers, which made the sharpest profit forecast adjustment of 14.33 per cent, said Huaneng delivered a 'major cost-cutting surprise'.