Hongtong Natural Gas(605169) 山西证券·2025-04-22 14:51Investment Rating - The report assigns an "Add-A" investment rating to the company, indicating a positive outlook for its stock performance in the coming months [3][7]. Core Insights - The company reported a significant increase in revenue and net profit for the year 2024, with operating income reaching 2.753 billion yuan, up 46.17% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders at 173 million yuan, up 13.05% year-on-year [3][4]. - LNG production and sales saw remarkable growth, with LNG production increasing by 77.51% to 438,100 tons and sales rising by 80.68% to 438,900 tons [4]. - The company is enhancing its natural gas supply chain and expanding its gas station network, with plans to build and operate additional gas stations [5]. Financial Performance - Basic earnings per share (EPS) for 2024 were reported at 0.62 yuan, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 13.89% [2][3]. - The return on equity (ROE) was 9.35%, an increase of 0.72 percentage points compared to the previous year [3]. - The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 2.5 yuan per 10 shares, totaling 69 million yuan, which represents 40.02% of the net profit attributable to shareholders for 2024 [6]. Future Projections - The company expects EPS to reach 0.70 yuan in 2025, 0.88 yuan in 2026, and 0.94 yuan in 2027, with corresponding dynamic price-to-earnings (PE) ratios of 13.2, 10.5, and 9.9 [7][11]. - Revenue is projected to grow to 3.222 billion yuan in 2025, with a year-on-year growth rate of 17% [11][13]. Market Data - As of April 21, 2025, the closing price of the company's stock was 9.24 yuan, with a market capitalization of 2.614 billion yuan [1]. - The stock has seen a yearly high of 11.84 yuan and a low of 7.35 yuan [1]. Operational Developments - The company is actively working on natural gas storage and peak-shaving projects, with a designed capacity of 1 million cubic meters per day for its LNG plant [5]. - The company has successfully increased its gas station count to 50, with plans for further expansion [5].