智通财经网·2025-08-22 06:25Core Viewpoint - Jianyin International has downgraded Kunlun Energy's (00135) core profit forecast for 2025 to 2027 by 5% and slightly reduced the target price from HKD 8.7 to HKD 8.5 while maintaining an "outperform" rating [1] Financial Performance - Kunlun Energy's net profit for the first half of the year decreased by 4.4% to RMB 3.2 billion, primarily due to a 10.5% year-on-year decline in natural gas sales and a 3% drop in pre-tax profit from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which offset an 11% increase in pre-tax profit from LNG receiving and processing operations [1] - Despite the profit decline, the interim dividend increased by 1.2% year-on-year to RMB 0.166, with the payout ratio rising from 43% last year to 45.5% in the first half of this year [1] Sales and Market Conditions - The report indicates that warm winter and leasing gas stations to the parent company led to a slowdown in retail natural gas sales growth from 8.1% last year to 2.2% in the first half of this year [1] - The company aims for a 5% year-on-year increase in total retail natural gas sales for the year, with a projected 7.7% growth in the second half, considering normalization of vehicle natural gas sales and contributions from new gas projects [1] Profitability Outlook - The company expects unit gross margins to remain stable in the second half, supported by a recovery in the natural gas sales structure and weak overall procurement costs, along with continued improvement in LNG processing plant profits, which will help offset the impact of weak gas sales profits for the year [1]