Last year was favorable for hydropower companies as demand for electricity grew faster than power capacity. This was enhanced by early rainfall which helped increase production.

Central Hydropower JSC(CHP) on Thursday reported its performance beat targets. Production reached 877.5 million kWh, surpassing the yearly goal of a 35 per cent increase. Its total revenue was VND873 billion (US$38.3 million) and net profit VND403 billion, up 34 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively, over the targets.

Although posting a decline in Q4 profit, Se San 4A Hydropower JSC (S4A) recorded a successful year with net profit doubling that in 2016 to hit VND134 billion and revenues reached VND286 billion, up 27 per cent year-on-year. These results represented 3 per cent and 88 per cent increases over targets set for the whole year.

Hydro Power JSC Co - Power No 3 (DRL) also posted higher growth in 2017 with total sales of VND102.5 billion and net profit of VND61 billion, exceeding 35 per cent and 50.5 per cent, respectively, compared to its yearly goal.

Such impressive results have allowed hydropower generators to pay investors generous dividends, making their shares more attractive.

DRL decided to pay a total dividend of 61.08 per cent for 2017. It advanced investors 40 per cent in cash twice in 2017.

Meanwhile, CHP announced it would spend VND126 billion for a 10-per-cent cash dividend, which is expected to pay in the first quarter of 2018. S4A’s management board also approved a cash dividend plan of 15 per cent.

Shares in hydropower firms also grew substantially last year with CHP rising 35 per cent, S4A increasing 69 per cent and DRL climbing 50 per cent.

It is noteworthy that price-earnings (P/E) ratio of hydropower companies is much lower than the market’s P/E, which currently stand at about 20x. P/E ratio of CHP is 6.58 while those of DRL and S4A are 7.09 and 8.81, respectively.

Other results

Among oil and gas companies, PV Gas (GAS) reported it had exceeded 2017 financial targets by 28-68 per cent, of which total revenues hit more than VND66 trillion and pre-tax profit was VND10.56 trillion, a growth of 9-15 per cent over 2016 figures.

PetroVietnam Technical Services JSC (PVS) posted consolidated revenues of VND14.8 trillion and pre-tax profit of VND1 trillion, exceeding yearly targets by 14 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, PetroVietnam General Services JSC (PET) estimated consolidated revenues of VND9.8 trillion and pre-tax profit of VND159 billion, up 1 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively, over the 2017 projection.

Regarding property developers, Dat Xanh Real Estate Service & Construction Corp (DXG) estimated net sales of VND3 trillion and net profit of VND750 billion in 2017, completing only 91 per cent of sales target, but surpassing the profit goal by 7 per cent.

DXG shares offered good investment return with a 12 per cent growth since early this year, settling Friday at VND24,150 per share. Its shares also soared 110 per cent in 2017.

Thu Duc Housing Development Corp (TDH) also made a positive estimated result, following which its total sales reached VND1.95 trillion, up 70 per cent year-on-year and a surge of 43 per cent over the yearly target. Its 2017 net profit is projected at VND142.4 billion, up 32 per cent year-on-year and 9 per cent higher than the target.

The banking sector also witnessed impressive growth in 2017 with big lenders such as Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV (BID) reporting growth in pre-tax profit of 14-20 per cent over 2016’s performance.

Together with positive signs from businesses, the stock market has recorded strong development since early this year with the benchmark VN-Index rising nearly 7 per cent to more than 1,050 points this week. – VNS