Datang Renewable sees profits double

China Datang Corporation Renewable Power plans to expand more rapidly in the second half of the year after first-half profits doubled thanks to an increase in electricity sales.

The Beijing wind-farm operator posted net profit of 286 million yuan (HK$363 million) compared to 147 million yuan in the same period last year, beating the forecast of 213 million yuan compiled by Bloomberg analysts. No interim dividend was declared.

Electricity sales climbed 34 per cent to 2.7 billion yuan, boosted by a 38 per cent increase in power generation and lower grid curtailment.

President Hu Yongsheng said Datang Renewable, a subsidiary of Datang Corporation, added 12MW of production capacity in the first half, and he was confident the target of 500MW for the year would be hit.

Hu said Datang Renewable had recorded 1.1 billion yuan in capital expenditure in the first half and would invest a further 25 billion yuan in the second. Chief financial officer Zhang Xuefeng said the company had borrowed 50 billion yuan from banks but would not rule out an A-share public listing in Shanghai.

Patrick Dai, an analyst at Macquarie, said: "The results were generally in line, but I am a little bit disappointed in comparison to its competitor Huaneng Renewables." He said Huaneng's utilisation hours in Inner Mongolia had increased 77 per cent compared to Datang Renewable's 29 per cent.