Underlying profit rises 4pc in first half as Zhuhai plant taps into high energy demand in Guangdong
Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, a Li Ka-shing-controlled infrastructure group, raised first-half underlying profit 4 per cent on increased contributions from its utility units on the mainland and Britain.
Net profit fell 15 per cent to HK$1.58 billion, or 70 HK cents per share, in the six months to June, matching underlying profit and comparing with HK$1.86 billion a year earlier when a HK$338 million one-off tax credit was realised after the partial sale of Australian assets. Turnover rose 7.1 per cent to HK$2.39 billion.
CKI gained from the booming China economy, with demand from the firm's 1,400 megawatt power plant in Zhuhai helping to boost the mainland's profit contribution 15 per cent to HK$375 million.
An extra 1,200 MW capacity would come on stream later this year, deputy managing director Eric Kwan Bing-sing said. 'Demand for electricity was so strong in Guangdong that the shortages situation remained severe,' he said.
The highest first-half peak load in Guangdong was 15 per cent higher at 34.5 gigawatts than a year earlier, according to the province's economic and trade commission. Power shortages would continue in the second half of this year due to maintenance and some new power plants failing to come on stream, the government body said.
Chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi said the group's cash resources were boosted to HK$6.62 billion, creating scope for acquisitions on the mainland, Australia, Canada, and Europe, where the company is eyeing water supply utility Thames Water in Britain, worth #8 billion (HK$117.9 billion).
