Targeting to Reach 1,900MW Installed Capacity of Project Portfolio by 2020
VPower Group International Holdings Limited (“VPower Group” or the “Group”, stock code: 1608.HK), a leading DPG station owner and operator in Southeast Asia announced today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019. Despite the challenges in global business environment in 2019, the Group’s business and operations were proven to be resilient and the Group managed to record a satisfactory revenue growth of 15.4% to HK$ 2,794.0 million. The gross profit grew by 4.3% to HK$737.2 million with a gross profit margin of 26.4%; while EBITDA rose by 37.3% to HK$853.2 million and net profit increased 33.0% to HK$ 283.6 million.
Business Review
As for SI business, with 20 years of operational experience in SI business, the Group continued to strengthen its leadership in the global SI market and recorded revenue of HK$1,756.5 million (2018: HK$1,579.0) for the year ended 31 December 2019, representing a year-on-year growth of 11.2%. This was mainly attributable to sales to satisfy the increasing demand from power reserve market and rapid development of data centers and marine market.
IBO segment recorded a revenue of HK$1,037.5 million for the year ended 31 December 2019 (2018: HK$ 841.7 million), representing a year-on-year growth of 23.3%. The increase was primarily contributed by revenue generated from the new projects in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
In 2019, the Group continued to expand its business presence in Myanmar and further consolidated its leadership as an independent power producer in Myanmar by commencing two new gas-fired distributed power stations with total installed capacity of 114.4MW. In mid-2019, the Group was awarded a public tender for a 20MW gas-fired power project (with planned installed capacity of 23.2MW). At the same time, the consortium comprising the Group’s members and China National Technical Import & Export Corporation was awarded three power projects with an aggregate contract capacity of 900MW (with total planned installed capacity of 1,059.5MW). Accordingly, the Group is building the country’s first LNG-to-power station.
Seeing the growth in electricity demand and business opportunities in Sri Lanka, the Group has set foot in the market by successfully securing two diesel-fired power projects in the country through public tenders. The projects with a total installed capacity of 54.9MW commenced commercial operation in mid-2019.
Furthermore, the Group secured a gas-fired power project in Indonesia with planned installed capacity of 18.7MW for a contract term of 15 years which is expected to commence operation in the second half of 2020.
Outlook
Regardless of the signs of economic recovery and ease of trade disputes towards the end of 2019, the start of year 2020 was unsettled by the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which has brought a damaging impact to all walks of life across different countries. Attributable to the Group’s strategic business footprint in different countries and the flexible management system it built over the years, its operation remains stable and healthy albeit minor operational disruptions with new project development largely on track.
The Group sees a strong demand for distributed power solutions in countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe. The Group expects the total installed capacity of its project portfolio (including the projects under joint venture) to reach around 1,900WW by the end of 2020 from currently 752.7MW. As a result, the Group is confident to achieve a strong growth in the years ahead.
The Group will continue to focus on materializing the projects in pipeline in the short term, in particular, the newly awarded projects in Myanmar. It is expected the four new projects in Myanmar will commence commercial operation in the second quarter of 2020. In Sri Lanka, the Group announced in February 2020 that it secured new projects with planned installed capacity of 38.8MW. The projects are expected to commence commercial operation in the second quarter of 2020. Together with its existing 54.9MW operating projects, the Group’s total installed capacity in the country will reach close to 100MW. For the projects in the United Kingdom (Doncaster Project) and Indonesia (Dumai Project), the Group expects them to commence commercial operation within this year.
Mr Ambrose Lee, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Capital Markets/Corporate Finance of VPower Group, remarked, “Backed by the market demand for distributed power solutions, our strong pipelines and solid business foundation, we are confident to maintain a strong growth in the years ahead despite the market uncertainties. We will also continue to strengthen our business development, optimize our operation and improve efficiency and cost management for corporate sustainability.”
In response to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, Mr. Rorce AU-YEUNG, Co-Chief Executive Officer of VPower Group added, “The outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 has become a threat to all countries around the world. By placing the health and safety of our staff and stakeholders as the top priority, we will closely monitor the development of the current global health emergency to ensure swift response and take all necessary prevention and controls. At all times, we are committed to creating the greatest value and sharing the accomplishment with our shareholders, and caring for the well-being of the environment.”
About VPower Group International Holdings Limited
Headquartered in Hong Kong, VPower Group is an integrated expert in distributed power generation (DPG). It principally engages in power system integration (SI) business, covering designing, integrating and sale of gas-fired and diesel-fired engine-based gen-sets and power generation systems, and Investment, Building and Operating (IBO) business, involving investing in, building, leasing and operating distributed power stations to supply reliable electricity. It is one of the world’s leading large gen-set system integration providers, and Southeast Asia’s largest private gas-fired engine-based distributed power generation station owner and operator.
