PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31 (Q1) fell 26.6% to RM1.56 billion from RM2.12 billion a year ago due to higher net loss on impairment of financial instruments and tax expense recorded.
However, its revenue increased 7.9% from RM12.27 billion to RM13.24 billion as compared to the same period last year mainly due to the increase in group’s sales of electricity of 7.8% from RM12.07 billion to RM13.01 billion as compared to the last corresponding period.
Electricity sales grew 5.2% to 28,471.1 GWh in Q1 2019 from Q1 2018, mainly due the 4.5% growth in gross domestic product in Malaysia for the same period. TNB said higher sales in this period are expected to be due to increase in electricity usage, partly due to current hot weather in the country.
The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) margin seen by TNB in Q1 2019 is positive due to initiatives undertaken to restructure its internal business services and expand into unregulated businesses such as rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system and high speed broadband.
TNB expects its performance to remain stable for the financial year ending Dec 31.
In tandem with the Malaysian government’s target to grow renewables’ proportion of the total generation capacity mix from 2% currently to 20% by 2025, TNB had set a target to grow its renewable energy capacity to 1,700MW both domestically and internationally by 2025.
With MESI 2.0 expected to be announced this year, under the leadership of CEO and president Amir Hamzah Azizan (pix), TNB has begun executing strategic initiatives to ensure that its business models are poised to succeed within the pillars of future generation sources, smart grid and customer centricity.
Its wholly owned subsidiary TNB Renewables Energy Sdn Bhd (TRe) is spearheading and accelerating TNB’s renewable energy (RE) business growth in Malaysia by capturing growth opportunities in utility-scale RE assets, small-scale RE assets, and expanding retail self-generation platform.
GSPARX Sdn Bhd, a fully owned subsidiary of TRe, operates on the business model to provide solar PV system for residential customers, through cash and leasing options. A total amount of 1.3MWp worth of RE contracts have been confirmed under GSPARX to date.
TNB has also partnered with the Malaysian Green Technology Corporation with a target to install up to 10,000 EV charging stations nationwide.
In efforts to expand the capacity of the large scale solar (LSS) business, TNB is looking to increase its renewable energy portfolio by 70MW through participation in the third round of the LSS scheme.
TNB currently has 50MW and 30MW LSS assets in Sepang and Bukit Selambau respectively. The LSS in Sepang has been in commercial operations since November 2018 while Bukit Selambau is in early construction stage with expected commercial operations in late 2020.
