Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" (maintained) [1] Core Views - The company's performance in the first half of 2025 was under pressure due to weak gas demand and a decline in connection services, leading to a significant drop in net profit [8] - The company plans to maintain a high dividend payout ratio, with a proposed cash dividend of 0.40 yuan per share for the first half of 2025, resulting in a payout ratio of approximately 140% [8] - The gradual implementation of residential gas pricing policies across various regions is expected to benefit the company, potentially leading to a recovery in price differentials [8] Financial Summary - Total revenue for 2023 is projected at 4,947 million yuan, with a decline to 4,375 million yuan in 2025, representing a year-on-year decrease of 7.99% [1] - The net profit attributable to the parent company is forecasted to decrease from 606.31 million yuan in 2023 to 397.80 million yuan in 2025, a decline of 20.97% [1] - The earnings per share (EPS) is expected to drop from 0.85 yuan in 2023 to 0.56 yuan in 2025 [1] - The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is projected to be 17.84 in 2025 [1] - The company has committed to a dividend payout ratio of no less than 70% from 2023 to 2025, with actual payout ratios of 97.1%, 126.9%, and 139.7% for the respective years [8]

Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" (maintained) [1] Core Views - The company's 2024 annual performance is under pressure, with a significant dividend payout ratio of 126.93% [7][8] - The company reported a total revenue of 4.755 billion yuan in 2024, a decrease of 3.87% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 503.38 million yuan, down 16.98% year-on-year [8][9] - The report highlights the stability of midstream and downstream gas sales, while the company is expected to benefit from the gradual implementation of residential gas pricing policies [12][13] Summary by Sections Financial Performance - In 2024, the company achieved total revenue of 47.55 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.87% year-on-year, and a net profit of 5.03 billion yuan, down 16.98% year-on-year [8][9] - The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.45 yuan per share, totaling 3.22 billion yuan, leading to an annual dividend of 6.39 billion yuan [8][9] - The average return on equity (ROE) decreased by 2.97 percentage points to 13.61% [8][11] Business Segments - Pipeline natural gas sales generated revenue of 21.62 billion yuan, down 6.91% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 9.26% [9][10] - City gas sales achieved revenue of 18.84 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.69% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 13.9% [9][10] - The gas installation engineering segment reported revenue of 5.65 billion yuan, down 5.77% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 66.79% [9][10] Future Outlook - The company expects to benefit from the gradual implementation of residential gas pricing policies, which could lead to a recovery in price differentials [12][13] - The forecast for net profit attributable to shareholders for 2025 and 2026 has been adjusted to 5.10 billion yuan and 5.28 billion yuan, respectively [13][14] - The projected P/E ratios for 2025-2027 are 15.21, 14.71, and 14.55, respectively [14]