(Reuters) – Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries posted a 7% rise in its annual profit on Thursday, driven by better performance in the integrated urban solutions segment, which overshadowed lower income in its biggest division gas and related services.
Shares of the Temasek Holdings-backed company rose as much as 3.4% to S$6.08 after the results, their highest level since early August, 2023.
Integrated Urban Solutions – which supports sustainable development through its suite of urban, water, and waste and waste-to-resource solutions – reported a 40% rise in annual net profit on higher land sales in Vietnam and Indonesia, and better performance in the energy-from-waste business in Singapore.
However, Sembcorp’s gas and related services segment, its biggest earner, posted a 10% drop in net profit due to planned major maintenance in the first half and lower pool gains in Singapore.
The utility company said its total net profit was S$1.01 billion ($755.42 million) for the year ended December 31, compared with S$942 million a year ago.
The company also proposed a final dividend of 17 Singapore cents per share, up from 8 cents declared a year ago.
Its renewables segment took an earnings hit last year, hurt by lower wind speed in India in the second half and increased curtailment in China, despite securing 4.1 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity across its key markets since the end of 2023, boasting a total gross renewables capacity of 17 GW.
The firm, however, expects the segment to grow, seeing contribution from its added assets during the year, while also anticipating strong earnings from gas and related services, expecting its 30% stake in Senoko Energy to positively impact its bottom line.
Sembcorp reported a turnover of S$6.42 billion for the year, a 9% decrease from a year ago.
($1 = 1.3370 Singapore dollars)
(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil and Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rashmi Aich)
