BANPU Jumps 14.4% after Recording a 90% Increase in 1Q20 Profit from Baht Depreciation

The share price of Banpu Public Company Limited (BANPU) rose as much as ฿0.80/share or 14.41% to ฿6.35/share after reporting a soaring profit in 1Q20.

 

BANPU has reported its 1Q20 consolidated financial statement through the Stock Exchange of Thailand as follows;

BANPU reported a net profit of 1,712 million baht in 1Q20, increased 89.23% from a net profit of 905 million baht in 1Q19. The increase was mainly due to the rapid depreciation of Thai Baht against the US Dollar, resulting in a substantial foreign exchange gain of USD 112 million.

Sales reported at $633 million (equivalent THB 19,797million), decreased by $66 million compared to 1Q2019.This was a decrease of $51 million from coal businesses, a decrease of $18 million from natural gas business, while an increase of $2 million from power and steam business.

Australia reported sound operation performance with coal sale volume of 3.09 million tonnes, higher 6% QoQ. This was attributed to an early completion of Longwall move at Mandalong and better mining conditions at Springvale. The ASP remained firm at AUD 86.13 per tonne with cost of sale unchanged at AUD 78.75 per tonne. Gross profit margin was at 9%.

China coal started this year with a strong performance. The equity income doubled from the previous quarter to USD 16 million due to resilient coal sales and cost normalization. The outbreak of COVID-19 did not significantly impact coal mining operations as coal is considered a critical product for livelihood of residents particularly during winter.

In the gas business, the mild winter in the USA combined with oversupply of gas caused volatility in gas prices and impacted operation performance for this period. The unit reported a 7% QoQ lower sale volume of 16.7 Billion Cubic Feet (Bcf) on a 23% QoQ drop in ASP to USD 0.93 per million BTU (MMBtu) with GPM of a negative 16%.

In the power business, the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants in China contributed net profit of USD 16million. BLCP achieved 100% electricity dispatch rate. However, the scheduled decline in tariff for this year and depreciation in Thai Baht resulted in an equity loss of USD 2.2 million. Hongsa reported a surge in equity income to USD 34 million as all 3 units fully recovered from the earthquake incident in November Last year.