KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) foresees a stable performance and will continue to remain cautious on the impact of fuel prices and currency volatility on its earnings, as the overall economy is projected to grow at 4% for the year.
“The group will continue to take prudent measures in managing its operational and financial requirements to ensure it remains resilient,” the utility giant said in the notes accompanying its financial results.
TNB said for the period ended Sept 30 (3Q), the group electricity demand grew by 2.7% in line with Malaysia’s gross domestic product expansion of 3.3%.
“However, the earnings were impacted by negative fuel margin and foreign exchange volatility. Despite the challenging global environment, the group reported a fair performance.
“The group’s receivables and working capital position have improved, supported by good collection rate and easing pressure on coal prices,” TNB said.
TNB’s net profit declined 3.7% to RM856.2mil, or earnings per share of 14.85 sen in 3Q against RM888.9mil, or 15.50 sen in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue rose 3.9% to RM13.5bil from RM12.9bil last year. It said the higher revenue was mainly due to the higher sales of electricity of RM1.3bil, up by 3.6% against the corresponding period with demand growth of 2.7%.
TNB said operating profit for the current period decreased by 24.5% or RM1.9bil due to the lower imbalanced cost pass-through (ICPT) under recovery recognised in the current period by 46.7% or RM7.42bil.
This was offset by lower operating expenses of RM42.5bil from RM46.5bil, lower by 8.6% or RM3.99bil which mainly due to lower generation costs.
For the nine-month period, TNB’s net profit fell to RM2.19bil from RM2.65bil in the same period a year ago while revenue rose to RM39.4bil against RM37.9bil last year.
