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Huaneng Power seen as standout in utilities Alman Loong Monday, May 14, 2007 Share prices for Asian utilities will remain volatile, but companies like Huaneng Power International (0902) which provide high dividends and a strong balance sheet will attract investors, ABN Amro asset management vice president Corne Zandbergen said. "We're planning to increase emerging-market allocation to 10 percent from 8 percent," Zandbergen told The Standard. Zandbergen, who manages a 465 million euro (HK$4.92 billion) utilities fund, said China is totally different from other countries in Asia. "The country is recording 10 percent economic growth annually and a 15 percent rise in demand, but the utilization rate of generators is continuing to fall." Despite the falling utilization rates, Zandbergen said the valuations of some mainland power companies are still not expensive. "Huaneng is the one China stock in our portfolio as it is the largest power company in China, pays high dividends, and has a safe balance sheet." Demand for electricity in China is expected to increase 12.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.18 trillion kilowatt hours this year, the China Electricity Council said. The council also said the utilization rate of generators will continue to fall to around 5,000 hours this year from 5,221 hours last year, but would still be in a reasonable range. China now accounts for 1.3 percent of ABN Amro asset management's portfolio and Malaysia accounts for 1.5 percent, but it does not own any utilities stock in Hong Kong. "There is a lot of uncertainty in the Hong Kong utilities sector, including the rate of return," Zandbergen said. "It would affect the company if profits fell." Commenting on the outlook of global utilities, Zandbergen expects the companies will record 10 percent profit growth this year and next, driven by their organic business, and will pay high dividends in line with their profit growth. "The outlook for utilities remains good," Zandbergen said, adding new power plants are scheduled, but it may be three years before production starts. "We expect merger and acquisition activity to increase and utilities to pay out high dividends and execute share buybacks." ABN Amro set an "overweight" rating for Europe but "underweight" for the United States as the market is more expensive and regulated than in Europe. |
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| aus der Diskussion: | china will yuan aufwerten- auswirkungen für huaneng power |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | hopy00 (14.05.07 08:01:33) |
| Beitrag: | 39 von 50 (ID:29296102) |
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