HÀ NỘI — High rainfall volume and domestic demand have raised hydropower plant earnings in the first six months of 2017 and promised to lift their performances in the remaining half, according to Việt Dragon Securities Corp (VDSC).

Two of the nine hydropower plant operators trading on the local stock market, Southern Hydropower JSC (SHP) and Sê San 4A Hydropower JSC (S4A), managed to turn a profit in the first half of the year after posting losses one year ago.

SHP recorded VNĐ221 billion (US$9.82 million) in net revenue in the first six months, a yearly increase of 69 per cent, and VNĐ22.3 billion in net profit, a reverse from last year’s first-half loss of VNĐ53 billion.

S4A saw its first-half revenue jump 104 per cent year on year to VNĐ121 billion, and its net profit reached VNĐ50 billion was a massive improvement over the a six-month loss of VNĐ2.2 billion in 2016.

Six other hydropower companies saw their six-month earnings strongly gain, including Sông Ba JSC (SBA), Central Hydropower JSC (CHP) and Thác Mơ Hydropower JSC (TMP).

SBA’s revenue surged 166 per cent to VNĐ140.7 billion and its net profit jumped 500 times from VNĐ100 million to VNĐ54 billion.

CHP saw its net revenue increase by 166 per cent to VNĐ412 billion and net profit soar 109 times to VNĐ198 billion. TMP posted 80 per cent and 496 per cent growth rates in its net revenue and profit, which touched VNĐ361 billion and VNĐ159 billion after six months.

Only Thác Bà Hydropower JSC (TBC) reported decreases in its net revenue and profit after six months. The figures for the company were VNĐ133 billion and VNĐ65.6 billion, down 4 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, from the same period of 2016.

After the first half, nine hydropower plant operators posted VNĐ2.11 trillion in revenue and VNĐ941.7 billion in net profit. Those figures respectively increased by 73 per cent and 218 per cent year on year.

VDSC said in its first-half report on the hydropower industry that strong gains in hydropower companies’ earnings during the first half of 2017 were attributed to growing electricity demand across the country and good weather conditions supporting plants located in the Central and Central Highland regions.

“Electricity consumption in the first half of 2017 grew by 8.5 per cent and should grow even faster in the second half, since the Government has shown their determination to boost GDP growth more aggressively, which will stimulate higher electricity demand.”

Electricity demand grew faster than system capacity could afford, with total system capacity having increased by 3.9 per cent so far this year.

Still, in the first half of 2017, the amount of rainfall in those areas and the South was 25-100 per cent and 10-30 per cent higher than the average multiyear six-month level, boosting those companies’ production output.

For the remaining six months of the year, VDSC forecast hydropower companies “would witness improvement” and “their overall business performance in 2017 will deliver remarkable growth.”

Those firms should benefit from the determination of the Government to achieve GDP growth at 6.7 per cent in 2017 while electricity consumption growth is often twice as high as the GDP growth to meet the demand of the growing economy, it said.

In addition, VDSC expects that the oversupply situation last year would not repeat in the second half of 2017, and electricity prices should be much higher, boosting those companies’ results. — VNS