WHA Group Marks its 2020 First-Half Net Profit of Baht 715 Million, 164% growth from Quarter1, Confident in Business Recovery in the Second Half of the Year, Customers Queuing to Sign New Warehouse, Rental Factory and Land Sale Contracts

Bangkok – WHA Corporation Public Company Limited (WHA Group) is confident that its business will recover in the second half of 2020, due to the easing measure of COVID-19 lockdown and the return of foreign investors. The Company expects to sign new warehouse and rental factory contracts, as well as to close more land sale deals while its utilities and power business will improve significantly from high volume of water and electricity demand throughout the remaining half of the year. For the second quarter of 2020, the Company had the total revenue and share of profit and net profit of Baht 1,967 million and Baht 542 million, respectively. If excluding FX impact and extra item, the Company had the normalized total revenue and share of profit and normalized net profit of Baht 1,885 million and Baht 518 million, increased 35% and 164%, respectively. For the first half of 2020, the Company generated normalized total revenue and share of profit at Baht 3,284 million and normalized net profit of Baht 715 million.

Ms. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, Chairman and Group CEO of WHA Corporation Public Company Limited (WHA Group), revealed about the 3-month performance result for the period ended 30 June 2020 that the Company’s revenue and share of profit from investments in associates and joint ventures have reached a total of Baht 1,967 million and a net profit of Baht 542 million. At the same time, the Company reported total normalized revenue and share of profit at Baht 1,885 million and normalized net profit at Baht 518 million, a decrease of 35% and 45% respectively from the same period last year. For the six-month period, the Company generated total revenue and share of profit at Baht 3,245 million and a net profit at Baht 641 million while total normalized revenue and share of profit added up to Baht 3,284 million and normalized net profit equal to Baht 715 million, 26% and 35% decline from last year due to the delay of land transfer during the COVID-19 lockdown, a decrease in share of profit from Gheco-One Power Plant, 3 SPPs were under planned maintenance as well as an increase of depreciation from new project of utility business. However, comparing the performance result of quarter 2 to quarter 1 in 2020, total normalized revenue and share of profit and normalized net profit increased at 35% and 164%. This is due mainly to a 107% increase in revenue from land business and sale of properties that occurred in quarter 2 and an increase in revenue from logistics business.

Simultaneously, the Logistics Business continued to outperform. For the first half of the year, rental and service income has reached Baht 761 million, following the signing of new contracts as the Company continued to benefit from the growing demand from E-Commerce and consumer segments. The Company will proceed with the planned asset monetization to WHART and HREIT, aiming to realize revenue from the transaction at Baht 4,600 million in the fourth quarter of this year.

For Industrial Development Business, the Company realized revenue from land business and sale of properties at total Baht 811 million, lower than last year, as some customers decided to delay the land transfer due to the imposed travel restrictions and border closures. While, in Vietnam, the industrial estate business is expected to exceed its annual land sale target. Despite of the current situation, many customer groups are still showing interest in the Company’s industrial estates in both Thailand and Vietnam, as numbers of investors including the Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese, are looking to relocate their productions out of China. The Company anticipates that when the government can effectively contain the spread of COVID-19 with clear measures on international travels for business people (business bubble), the sale of industrial land will resume in the second half of this year and continue to grow over the next year.

The Utilities Business has experienced a slowdown, with total revenue of Baht 1,015 million in the first half. However, the water sales are expected to increase during the second half, as customers are expected to relaunch new projects that has been delayed due to the impacts from drought crises. Moreover, the Company has expedited its investments in reclaimed water projects over these first six months, boosting the capacity of reclaimed water production to approximately 15% of total current water demand. This will not only enable the Company to increase its bottom line but also be able to offer sustainable water supply to its customers.

For the Power Business, WHA Group realized the normalized share of profit from investments in associated and joint ventures, excluding foreign exchange gain/loss, at Baht 496 million in the first half. The IPP business was affected by the declining share of profit from Gheco-One Power Plant that dropped due to the reduction of availability payment in the power purchase agreement, declining in coal price, and the start of 10% corporate tax payment since the end of last year. However, the strong operating performance of the power plant as well as decreased in principal and interest obligation, the Company continuously receives high dividend from investment in Gheco-One. Likewise, the share of profit in SPP Business in the second quarter of the year remained the same level as the first quarter. In addition, the total sale volume of Power Business in the second quarter improved 2% comparing to the first quarter. While 3 SPPs (out of 8 SPPs) were under planned maintenance during the first half, resulting decline in share of profit from SPP Business including maintenance expense at 13%. Nevertheless, the Company received an additional share of profit from the waste-to-energy power plant (Chonburi Clean Energy) which started COD at the beginning of the year, and additional COD solar rooftop projects, from 6 MW in 2019 to 22 MW in the first half of this year and to 39 MW within year 2020. As a result, total COD capacity will reach 592 equity MW by the end of 2020.

Furthermore, the Digital Business is growing well, as the COVID-19 pandemic, several business operators are showing their interest in digital platforms. WHA Group has signed agreements to provide Data Centers for customers’ system networks and rack colocation, representing 109 racks. The Company received a license from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to test 5G with the leading network service providers in its industrial estates.