Bangkok--12 May--Glow Energy
Glow Group (“Glow”) posted consolidated total revenues of THB 7,900 million, Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”) of THB 1,504 million, and Normalized Net Profit (“NNP”, net profit before unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses) of THB 598 million for the 1st quarter of 2009.
The NNP of THB 598 million is an increase of 15.44% from 4th quarter of 2008, while being a decrease of 37.42% from 1st quarter of 2008. In the first quarter of 2009, Glow’s profitability was principally affected by availability of power plants and lower sales to industrial customers.
During January and February, a 356 MW gas-fired IPP unit was off-line due to scheduled maintenance, while at the same time the 150 MW coal-fired plant (“CFB#1”) was also off-line. CFB#1 had been out-of-service since November last year and only resumed normal operation on 21st of March. The loss of revenue during the CFB#1 outage is insured, where Glow has submitted Business Interruption claim of more than THB 250 million and not yet accounted for in the first quarter results.
Industrial customer sales volume have recovered significantly from the lowest level seen in 4th quarter 2008, however the industrial customer demand is still around 20% below the same period in 2008. Industrial customer sales drop has been partially offset by the improved operating margin as electricity tariff increased by 15 satang in beginning of the year amid the drop in gas costs.
Glow has also successfully closed all its funding requirements for 2009. The company has recently entered into three separate loan agreements with Siam Commercial Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, and TMB Bank for a total amount of THB 6,000 million to fund its capital expenditures up to March 2010. This new 4.5 years funding will have an all-in fixed interest cost of less than 4.9% p.a. Meanwhile, Glow still has plans to fund another THB 9,000 MTHB in 2010 and THB 7,000 in 2011 to complete all its on-going investments, which will increase the total installed capacity of the Group by 67% from 1,966 MWeq today to 3,275 MWeq in 2011.
Mr. Esa Heiskanen, the CEO of Glow Group commented “We are very satisfied with the reported NNP in 1st quarter 2009. Taking account of the expected recovery of loss incurred from forced outage of CFB#1, our profitability has significantly improved since the last quarter. Most importantly, the future prospects for the Group are very promising. We now have all our power plants fully operating again, sales to existing industrial customers are stabilizing, and we are expecting increased sales from new contracts starting in the second half of 2009. Meanwhile our electricity sales margin to industrial customers will continue to improve, since it is expected that the Ft will remain constant at least until August, while there is continuing decline in the price of gas and coal, which represent our key operating costs. Our new 115 MW coal-fired unit is still on schedule to begin commercial operation at the end of this year, which will further improve Glow’s operating profit in 2010”
Mr. Suthiwong Kongsiri, the CFO of Glow Group further added “We are very pleased with our 2009 funding results. We have successfully secured all THB 9,000 million funding requirements for 2009 at all-in fixed costs that are substantially lower than the previous year’s funding, despite the squeeze on liquidity. We believe that our strong business foundations and strict financial discipline, reflected in our recently affirmed ‘A’ rating with ‘Stable Outlook’ from TRIS, will continue to enable us to secure our future funding needs in 2010-2011 at the same favorable terms and conditions that we are receiving today ”.
About Glow Energy
Glow Energy is a member of the Glow Group who is a major energy player in Thailand. Glow Group combined installed capacities include 1,708 MW of electricity and 967 tons per hour of steam.
Glow Group generate and supply electricity to Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) under Thailand's SPP (Small Power Producer) and IPP (Independent Power Producer) programs, as well as electricity, steam, industrial water and services to large industrial customers principally located in the Map Ta Phut area and nearby.
GDF SUEZ Energy International is Glow Energy’s major shareholder and is a division of the GDF SUEZ Group, one of the largest international industrial and services groups in the world.
For more information about GDF SUEZ or GDF SUEZ Energy International, please visit the companies’ websites at www.gdfsuez.com and www.suezenergyint.com . For more information about the Glow Group please go to www.glow.co.th
For further details please contact
Natthapatt Tanboon-ek
Glow Energy Plc.
Tel. 02-670-1500-1
Email : [email protected]