昆仑能源：工商业气量强势，加工储运增长亮眼

Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" with a target price set above the current price of 7.86 HKD, maintaining the rating for the next six months [1]. Core Insights - The company reported a revenue of 929.22 billion RMB for the first half of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.72%, with a net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.305 billion RMB, up 2.58% year-on-year [2]. - The growth in retail gas volume exceeded expectations, with a total gas sales volume of 26.438 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 10.5%, and a significant increase in the number of commercial and industrial users [3]. - The LNG processing and storage segment showed remarkable growth, with sales revenue increasing by 18% and a pre-tax profit increase of 22.9% [4]. - LPG sales exceeded half of the annual target, achieving a sales volume of 2.9258 million tons, with a pre-tax profit increase of 32.62% [5]. - The company announced a mid-term dividend of 0.164 RMB per share, with a payout ratio of 43% [6]. - Profit forecasts for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026 are maintained at 6.504 billion, 7.014 billion, and 7.599 billion RMB respectively, with corresponding EPS of 0.75, 0.81, and 0.88 RMB [7]. Summary by Sections Basic Data - Total shares outstanding: 8,658.80 million shares - Total market capitalization: 68,058.18 million HKD - Net asset value per share: 8.08 HKD - Debt-to-asset ratio: 39.09% - Highest/Lowest price in one year: 9.23/5.45 HKD [1]. Performance Metrics - The company achieved a total gas sales volume of 26.438 billion cubic meters, with retail gas volume at 16.302 billion cubic meters, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 10.3% [3]. - The average gas selling price was 2.87 RMB per cubic meter, while the average purchase price was 2.42 RMB per cubic meter [3]. Capital Expenditure - Capital expenditure for the first half of 2024 was 2.817 billion RMB, primarily for natural gas sales [6].