KUNLUN ENERGY(00135) 交银国际·2025-03-27 10:23Investment Rating - The report assigns a "Buy" rating to the company, Kunlun Energy (135 HK), with a target price of HKD 9.02, indicating a potential upside of 15.1% from the current price of HKD 7.84 [1][14]. Core Insights - The company has set an ambitious retail gas growth target of 8% for 2025, supported by the addition of 8 city gas projects and an increase in commercial users [2][7]. - The financial outlook shows a slight decrease in core profit expectations for 2024, primarily due to lower-than-expected earnings from the LNG/upstream segment [7]. - The company maintains a healthy financial position with over RMB 20 billion in net cash by the end of 2024, and plans to increase the dividend payout ratio to 45% in 2025 [7][10]. Financial Overview - Revenue is projected to grow from RMB 177,354 million in 2023 to RMB 200,497 million in 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 7.2% [3][15]. - Net profit is expected to increase from RMB 5,682 million in 2023 to RMB 6,948 million in 2025, with a corresponding EPS growth from RMB 0.71 to RMB 0.80 [3][15]. - The company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is forecasted to decrease from 10.3 in 2023 to 9.1 in 2025, indicating potential valuation upside [3][15]. Segment Performance - The natural gas sales segment is expected to generate revenue of RMB 152,090 million in 2024, with a slight decline in tax profit forecasted for this segment [9][11]. - The LNG processing and storage segment is projected to see a modest increase in revenue, while the exploration and production segment is expected to decline significantly [9][11]. - Overall, the company anticipates a tax profit growth of 16.4% in 2025, driven by improved performance in the natural gas and LNG segments [11][15]. Operational Metrics - The company’s gas sales volume is expected to rise from 30.3 billion cubic meters in 2023 to 35.5 billion cubic meters in 2025, reflecting an annual growth rate of 8.3% [10]. - The LNG plant processing volume is projected to increase from 2.83 billion cubic meters in 2023 to 3.80 billion cubic meters in 2025, with a utilization rate of 68.5% [10]. - The gross margin for gas sales is expected to stabilize at RMB 0.47 per cubic meter through 2025, despite potential discounts for commercial users [7][10].