Union Gas has reported a 16.5% y-o-y lower earnings for the 1HFY2025 ended June 30 of $4.36 million.

 

The group&rsquo s revenue for the reporting period came in 3.8% y-o-y higher at $63.7 million, while gross profit grew 2.5% y-o-y to $22.6 million.

 

This higher revenue was attributed to an increase in revenue from its liquid fuel and newly established EV charging services and industrial gases business segments.

 

The liquid fuel segment registered a 33.8% y-o-y jump in revenue to $9.5 million mainly due to higher sales volume achieved, and the EV charging services and industrial gases segment reported revenue of $400,000, including maiden contribution of $200,000 from the industrial gas business in Indonesia which commenced operations in November 2024.

 

This was partially offset by lower revenue from its gas fuel segment, which declined 0.8% y-o-y mainly due to a decrease in volume.

 

Other income and gains recorded by the group fell 32.7% y-o-y mainly because of lower income from government grants and foreign exchange gains, while the group&rsquo s overall expenses increased by approximately 5.8% y-o-y, which was attributed mainly to an increase in marketing and distribution costs due to higher delivery charges, marketing expenses and staff costs.

 

As such, the group saw lower earnings for the period.

 

The board of directors has declared an interim dividend of 0.48 cents per share, representing about 35% of the net profit for 1HFY2025.

 

Union Gas has reported earnings of $12.5 million for FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, up 2.3% y-o-y. The group reported earnings of $7.3 million, up 13.6% y-o-y for 2HFY2024.

 

Earnings per share for FY2024 came in at 3.93 cents per share. 

 

For FY2024, revenue for the period decreased 2.6% y-o-y to $125.5 million. Gross profit for the full year came in 2.9% y-o-y lower at $47.4 million, and gross profit margin decreased by 0.1 percentage points (ppts) to 37.8. 

 

The group says that revenue from its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) segment decreased by 1.3% y-o-y, and revenue from natural gas (NG) decreased 22.5% y-o-y as a result of lower sales volumes recorded by both segments. 

 

The group&rsquo s diesel business also declined, as a result of lower selling prices. 

 

The group attributes its bottomline improvement to effective cost control measures that resulted in higher earnings despite a dip in revenue. 

 

The group&rsquo s gross profit margin held steady at 37.8%. 

 

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $12.6 million as at Dec 31, 2024.

 

Net asset value as at Dec 31, 2024 rose 13.1% y-o-y to 24.41 cents per share. 

 

The board of directors has proposed a final dividend of 1 cent per ordinary share. Together with the interim dividend of 0.60 cents per ordinary share, total dividend per share in FY2024 is 1.60 cents. 

Fuel products provider Union Gas Holdings 1F2 0.00% has announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Deltrix Limited to accelerate and strengthen the development of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across Singapore, Japan and the Southeast Asia region.

 

The MOU expresses the intention of Union Gas and Deltrix to co-operate on areas including EV charging infrastructure and systems development in the target markets.

 

Deltrix is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Trio Industrial Electronics Group and a leading manufacturer and provider of integrated EV charging integration solutions and ecosystems in Hong Kong.

 

The partnership will enhance knowledge sharing and enable both companies to tap on each other&rsquo s capabilities, resources and networks to capture the market for EV charging solutions, says the company in a press release.

 

Deltrix will bring to the table its expertise in developing such infrastructure while Union Gas will contribute its extensive customer base and network that have been established through more than 40 years of supplying energy products.

 

Trio chairman Cecil Wong expects the MOU to be a critical step for both companies to penetrate the EV charging market in Singapore, Japan and other Southeast Asian markets. &ldquo Deltrix will strive to provide its partners with more advanced and more competitive integrated EV charging solutions, establishing quality charging facility systems, improving energy resource structure, and making outstanding contributions to global energy transformation,&rdquo says Wong.

Under the MOU agreement, both parties will also explore the possibility of setting up a joint venture and other commercial arrangements to undertake these plans.

 

Teo Hark Piang, CEO of Union Gas, says: &ldquo Deltrix&rsquo s strength in EV charging solutions greatly complements our capabilities as a leading energy provider. The collaboration supports our ambitions to cater to the evolving energy requirements of the future as well as Singapore&rsquo s aspirations for cleaner energy options. We look forward to achieving breakthroughs in energy transformation with Deltrix.&rdquo

 

Union Gas says the partnership could also enable plans to convert its existing Cnergy fuel station at 50 Old Toh Tuck Road into an adaptable multi-fuel and energy facility. Cnergy currently offers compressed natural gas and diesel primarily to natural gas vehicles and industrial customers for commercial use.

 

Meanwhile, the company is exploring battery storage systems and electric vehicles charging stations, as well as a natural gas-based self-power facility supported by existing transmission pipelines.

 

Union Gas Holdings has reported a 6% y-o-y drop in revenue for its 1HFY2023 to $64.2 million. However, earnings surged by 137.6% y-o-y to $5.8 million, as it incurred lower costs buying fuel to process and resell.

 

The company plans to pay an interim dividend of 0.6 Singapore cent per share, which is higher than the total dividend per share of 0.5 Singapore cent paid out for whole of FY2022.

 

CEO Teo Hark Piang is upbeat on the company' s business prospects. " We will continue to leverage our upstream and downstream LPG assets to grow this segment by tapping into new opportunities along the supply chain.

 

" We are also encouraged by the rapid growth of our natural gas (NG) business, which affirmed our strategic diversification from compressed NG to also include liquified NG and piped NG," he adds.

 

Union Gas says that with borders opened, it will continue to explore and evaluate strategic opportunities to diversify and grow its business both locally and overseas.

 

To cushion the impact of direct material costs, which continue to be volatile due to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, the company has in place measures to rein in its operational expenses and controllable costs.