ENN-NG(SH:600803) Xinda Securities·2024-10-26 07:00Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" [1] Core Views - The company's Q3 performance was impacted by a decline in platform trading gas volume, while retail gas volume showed steady growth. The core profit for Q3 decreased due to the decline in platform trading gas prices, despite a year-on-year increase in retail gas sales volume [1][3] - The company is expected to benefit from the implementation of a pricing mechanism for natural gas, which will help improve profit margins in the retail gas business. The expansion of the LNG receiving station in Zhoushan is also anticipated to support future growth in direct sales gas business [2][3] - The company has a strong pipeline of long-term contracts for LNG, which is expected to drive high growth in its direct sales gas business from 2025 to 2028 [2][3] Summary by Sections Financial Performance - In Q3 2024, the company achieved operating revenue of 317.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.46%, but a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 3.10%. The net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.62 billion yuan, up 6.89% year-on-year but down 33.64% quarter-on-quarter [1] - For the first three quarters of 2024, the company reported a net profit of 34.91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.01% [1] Retail Gas Business - Retail gas volume showed a significant recovery, with sales volume reaching 188.19 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 10.46%. The industrial and commercial gas volume also grew rapidly [1][2] - The company expects retail gas business profitability to improve as gas sales volume recovers and pricing mechanisms are implemented nationwide [2][3] Direct Sales Gas Business - The company has signed nine long-term contracts with overseas LNG suppliers, with a total contract volume of 10.16 million tons per year. This is expected to support high growth in the direct sales gas business [2][3] - The expansion of the Zhoushan LNG receiving station is underway, with processing capacity expected to increase from 7.5 million tons per year to 10 million tons per year by 2025 [2] Dividend Policy - The company has committed to increasing cash dividends over the next three years, with a minimum annual increase of 0.15 yuan per share. The total dividends for 2023-2025 are projected to be no less than 0.91, 1.03, and 1.14 yuan per share, respectively [2][3]