Pha Lai power plant H1 profit up 11%

Pha Lai Thermal Power Co. (PPC), Vietnam's third-largest listed firm, said on Wednesday its first-half net profit rose nearly 11 percent from a year earlier to 562.8 billion dong ($34 million).

The power plant operator said in a statement released through the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange its revenues jumped nearly 18 percent from the first half of last year to 2.05 trillion dong ($127 million).

Officials of dominant utility Vietnam Electricity, the largest share holder in Pha Lai, have forecast power consumption would rise up to 20 percent this year with the domestic economy expected to grow 8.5 percent.

Pha Lai operates two plants in the northern province of Hai Duong, 65 km (40 miles) east of Hanoi, with a combined capacity of 1,040 megawatts. They produce nearly 6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, 10 percent of Vietnam's total.

Shares in Pha Lai fell 0.83 percent to 59,500 dong ($3.7) on Wednesday, valuing the firm at $1.15 billion, the third largest on the Ho Chi Minh exchange after top dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM) and IT firm FPT.

Source: Reuters