CEM’s net profit growth slows in 2014

The city’s sole power distibutor Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) saw its net profit for last year rise 4.7 per cent year-on-year to MOP608 million (US$77.6 million), a slower growth pace when compared to the two previous years, the company’s annual results show.
CEM’s net profit for last year was registered against the backdrop of a 6.1 per cent year-on-year increase in the income from selling power at nearly MOP5.92billion, according to the latest published result. The power distributor’s net profit growth in 2013 and 2012 was 5.8 per cent and 14.4 per cent, respectively.
Although fuel prices have dropped and the import cost reached with Guangdong Power Grid remained unchanged in 2014, CEM said in its results that the cost of purchasing power in the year had risen 1.6 per cent due to the appreciation of the yuan – although the purchase amount was not detailed in the result.
The power distributor has also maintained its subsidy policy for residential users and small companies by offering 18 per cent to 22 per cent discount on the tariff last year, with the total subsidy amount reaching MOP142 million, according to the company’s result.
The number of power users last year rose slightly by 2 per cent to 243,888, while the total power consumption increased by 6.1 per cent to 4,677 Gigawatt-hour (Gwh) due to the continuous increase in visitor arrivals, the ongoing construction of the Cotai casino-resort projects, and the operation of the University of Macau’s Hengqin campus, and Seac Pai Van public housing estate.
The power distributor said that it invested MOP539 million in upgrading its power distribution network and expansion last year, and spent another MOP100 million on power distribution network maintenance.
In the results, CEM reiterated that it was in ongoing negotiations with the government over the replacement of some of the company’s old diesel generators in the Macau Peninsula power plant.
The replacement, once granted by the government, can enhance the proportion of power generated locally from the current less than 10 per cent to at least 20 per cent, an advisor to the CEM Executive Committee, Mr. Iun Iok Meng, told media in late April.
S.L.