GULF Reports 42% Core Profit Growth after the Commercial Operation of GSRC Unit 1

Ms. Yupapin Wangviwat, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Gulf Energy Development Plc. (GULF), revealed “For the second quarter of this year, GULF recorded a core profit of 1,401 million baht, an increase of 412 million baht or 42% year-on-year (YoY).

The increase was mainly from the profit of Gulf SRC power project’s (GSRC) first unit following the commercial operation on March 31, 2021, with an installed power generation capacity of 662.5 megawatts (MW) and an average load factor of 88% in this quarter.

The rise in core profit also comes from the higher volume of electricity sales of 12 SPPs under GMP group and 7 SPPs under GJP group to industrial customers from all industries, especially from the automotive, electronic components and steel industries.

 

In Q2’21, the average load factor of industrial customers for the 12 SPPs was 63%, increasing from 51% last year, while the 7 SPPs had an average load factor of 66%, rising from 57% last year.

Additionally, the volume of electricity sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand from the 2 IPPs under GJP group increased by 148% YoY, resulting in more plant efficiency. GULF also recorded share of profit from PTT NGD of 63 million baht from the company’s investment of 42% equity stake.

 

Compared to the previous quarter, core profit decreased by 989 million baht or 41.4% due to the absence of dividend income from Intouch Holdings Public Company Limited (INTUCH) in this quarter, as well as from Borkum Riffgrund 2 (BKR2) offshore wind power plant project’s lower volume of electricity sales due to seasonality, since Q2 and Q3 are low season while Q1 and Q4 are peak season for offshore wind power projects in Germany.

 

Total revenue for Q2’21 was recorded at 11,845 million baht, an increase of 2,707 million baht or 29.6% YoY. The rise in revenue is mainly due to the revenue from GSRC Unit 1’s commercial operation in Q1’21, the revenue recognized from BKR2 offshore wind power project, which was recognized for the first time in Q4’20, and from the higher electricity and steam sales to industrial customers of the GMP group.

Meanwhile, electricity sales from GTN1 and GTN2 solar power projects in Vietnam had a slight drop due to the temporary curtailment from the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the nation’s electricity demand.

 

The EBITDA margin was 35.6%, an increase from 31.9% YoY. This was mainly due to a decrease in natural gas costs by 8.7% YoY, despite the decline in average Ft rate.

 

GULF recorded net profit attributable to the parent company, which includes the impact from foreign exchange rate, of 1,407 million baht, a decrease of 25.2% YoY compared to net profit of 1,881 million baht in Q2’20. This resulted from the unrealized gain of 892 million baht in the previous year, while there was unrealized gain of 6 million baht in Q2’21.

 

As of June 30, 2021, GULF had net interest-bearing debt to equity ratio of 1.75 times, which is still lower than the bond covenant level of 3.50 times.

 

“Following the completion of the tender offer for INTUCH securities, GULF has 42.25% equity stake in INTUCH. The acquisition was financed by loans from Thai financial institutions of approximately 48,612 million baht. GULF plans to issue debentures totaling approximately 20 billion baht within this year. The proceeds will be used for future investments to support the company’s growth as well as partial loan repayment for the acquisition of INTUCH shares. In addition, the company will immediately book dividend income of approximately 1.6 billion baht in the third quarter this year,” Ms. Yupapin added.

 

For the second half of 2021, GULF has a lineup of projects that will soon begin commercial operation such as the 128-MW ‘Mekong Wind’ offshore wind farm in Vietnam. Phase 1-3 will gradually start operating within Q3-Q4 2021, GSRC unit 2 with an installed capacity of 662.5 MW is scheduled for commercial operation in October 2021, the 326-MW gas-fired power plant in Oman (DIPWP) with an installed capacity of 40MW in the first phase will be in operation by the third and fourth quarter; and solar rooftop projects under Gulf1 with a total installed capacity of 20 MW will be gradually in operation by the end of the year, resulting in the company’s total gross installed capacity of 7,922 MW by the end of 2021.