Apr 12, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na

The five large state-owned power-generating companies that dominate China's power production industy, achieved combined profits of 18.56 billion yuan last year, 3.43 billion yuan less than in 2010, a fall of 15.6 percent according to information released by the Ministry of Finance for the first time.

The five companies are China Datang Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Group, China Huaneng Group and the China Power Investment Corporation.

They are the parent firms of the following listed companies: Datang International Power Generation Co, GD Power Development Co., Huadian Power, Huaneng Power International and China Power International

From January this year, the profitability of the "Big Five" has shown further signs of weakening.

The data released by the finance ministry reveals that the companies racked up combined losses of 2.22 billion yuan in January, 1.83 billion yuan more than over the same period last year.

Losses from the companies' thermal power business over the same period rose by 250 million yuan when compared to last year, to over 2.8 billion yuan.

Significant reductions in power generation capacity combined with continuous increases in the cost of financing and rising coal prices have all helped contribute to the sharp decline in profits.

In January, the five power companies generated 180 billion kwh of electricity, down 8.26 percent on the same period last year.

Of all the electricity generated, 170 billion kwh was generated at thermal power plants, a decrease of 3.72 percent over the same period last year.

A total of 166.4 billion kwh electricity was sold in January, a decrease of 8.66 percent compared to the same period last year

In January, the price of coal avergaed 768.53 yuan per ton, a 36.88 yuan increase on a year ago.

In January, the financial costs of the five power companies were 9.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3 billion yuan compared to last January.

Data also revealed that the debt-to-asset ratio of the five power companies continued to increase. By the end of January, the debt-to-asset ratio of each of the five power companies had exceeded 80 percent.

Links and Sources
Ministry of Finance: 中央五大發電集團2011年全年及2012年1月份運行情況