PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) foresees a reasonable performance for 2023 and will continue to remain cautious on the challenges ahead, including high fuel prices and inflation.
As the group pursues its growth strategy, TNB said in a Bursa Malaysia filing that it will continue to take prudent measures in terms of its operational and financial requirements to ensure it remains resilient.
For its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2022, TNB’s net profit dropped to RM809.10mil from RM877.80mil, mainly due to higher finance cost and tax expenses offset by the higher foreign currency translation gain during the period.
Revenue in the fourth quarter improved to RM12.92bil from RM12.53bil previously, mainly due to the higher sales of electricity.
“Operating expenses increased by 24.9% or RM3.6bil, mainly due to higher generation cost offset by an increase in imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) under recovery of RM3.19bil.
“The resultant operating profit decreased from RM1.57bil to RM1.5bil, lower by RM73mil,” said TNB.
Meanwhile, basic earnings per share stood at 14.10 sen, versus 15.35 previously.
The board of directors has approved a final single tier dividend of 26.0 sen per ordinary share, in
respect of the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY22), totalling to approximately RM1,495.8 million
In FY22, TNB’s net profit dipped to RM3.46bil from RM3.66bil in the previous corresponding period.
“This was mainly contributed by the higher finance cost and tax expenses which includes additional tax on Cukai Makmur for financial year 2022, amounting to RM340.8mil,” said TNB.
Meanwhile, revenue increased to RM50.87bil from RM48.12bil a year earlier.
TNB said revenue was boosted by the higher sales of electricity of RM2.65bil, up by 5.6% against the corresponding year with demand growth of 5.2%.
“The increase in the units sold for TNB was largely contributed by customers from the commercial and industrial sectors.”
Additionally, TNB said ICPT was in a higher under-recovery position of RM22.32bil as compared to RM4.51bil a year earlier, due to the higher fuel price.
“Operating expenses increased to RM64.61bil from RM44.52bil, up 45.1% mainly due to higher generation costs. Net loss on impairment of financial instruments decreased by RM838.8mil or 89.2% as the collection trend improved in the current year.
“These have resulted in a higher operating profit of RM9.41bil, an increase of RM1.33bil or 16.4% from the last corresponding year.”
Despite the higher operating profit, TNB said profit after tax for the year under review decreased by 8% or RM307.3mil.
For the full year 2022, TNB said the country’s overall economy expanded largely supported by domestic demand.
“This is consistent with Peninsular Malaysia’s electricity demand growth of 6%.
“These factors have contributed to the strong group performance, despite the increasing inflation, elevated cost and high fuel prices environment.”
TNB noted that the Malaysian economy is expected to grow at a moderate pace of 4.5% in 2023 amid the challenging global landscape.
“Domestic demand will remain the key driver of growth while inflation is expected to moderate but remain elevated,” it said.
