- Board gave a greenlight to pay total dividends of 0.2525 bath/share, with the XD sign posted on 29 April 2025
- Leverages AI Innovations to Drive Sustainable Business Growth
WHA Utilities and Power Public Company Limited (SET: WHAUP) announced its financial results for 2024, reporting total revenue and normalized share of profit of 3,959 million baht, and Normalized Net Profit of 1,118 million baht. The Board of Directors has approved a total annual dividend payment at 0.2525 baht per share, with the XD sign posted on 29 April 2025 and the dividend payment scheduled on 16 May 2025. Meanwhile, CEO Somkiat Masunthasuwun reaffirmed the company’s commitment to integrating AI innovations into its utilities and power businesses to drive sustainable growth.
WHAUP informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand about its 2024 financial performance with the revenue and normalized share of profit of 3,959 million baht, reflecting a 6% decrease year-on-year. Normalized net profit stood at 1,118 million baht, down 30% YoY, while a net profit including foreign exchange impacts amounted to 1,119 million baht, a decline of 31% YoY. The company’s domestic water and solar power businesses, along with its share of profit from water investments in Vietnam, continued to grow of 531%. However, the company has a downward trend in normalized share of profit from the Gheco-One power plant which was impacted by high production costs.
Mr. Somkiat Masunthasuwun, Chief Executive Officer of WHA Utilities and Power Plc (WHAUP), highlighted the continued growth of WHAUP’s utilities (water) business in both domestic and international markets in 2024. The company reported a total water sales and management volume of 166 million cubic meters, a 7% increase from 2023. The domestic growth was primarily driven by an increase in sales of value-added water products, fueled by rising demand from new customers.
In Vietnam, WHAUP’s total water sales and management volume in proportion to its equity reached 37 million cubic meters, growing 10%. This growth was mainly attributed to increased water sales from the Duong River project, which expanded its service area. As a result, the company recorded a share of profit from the Duong River project of 77 million baht in 2024, compared to its 8 million baht loss in 2023.
For 2025, WHAUP has set a target of 173 million cubic meters for total water sales and management, both domestically and internationally, reflecting a 4% increase from the previous year. WHAUP remains focused on expanding its services to customers in WHA industrial estates, particularly in the fast-growing technology sector, such as data centers with high water demand. The company will prioritize the production of value-added water products to better serve customer in terms of both quality and sustainability. This aligns with the development of Smart Water Solutions by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize utilities management, improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize water loss.
For power’s solar rooftop business, WHAUP successfully secured 76 new Private Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for solar energy projects with industrial customers, totaling 106 MW. By the year end of 2024, the company had secured a total Private PPA portfolio of 290 MW and the company’s had total power purchase agreements across all power plant types reached 965 MW, including 701 MW in operation and 264 MW under construction and development.
WHAUP’s normalized share of profit from the power business in 2024 amounted to 914 million baht, down 36% YoY, primarily due to reduced profit contributions from the Gheco-One Power Plant, which faced high production costs following the resumption of operations under EGAT’s dispatch order. However, the company benefited from increased profit contributions from its SPP power plants, driven by lower natural gas costs compared to 2023, leading to higher profit margins from electricity sales to industrial customers.
For 2025, WHAUP will further expand its renewable energy investments both inside and outside WHA industrial estates, domestically and internationally. The company will focus on Solar Rooftop projects, Feed-in-Tariff renewable energy projects, and Direct PPA ventures to strengthen its power business. Moreover, WHAUP has applied AI to develop innovations such as the Solar Anomaly system, which accurately detects abnormalities in solar panels, enabling quick maintenance and problem resolution. In addition, the Solar Forecasting system efficiently predicts solar energy production, aiding in maintenance planning, reducing costs, and improving grid stability.
Moreover, the company has developed a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Energy Trading platform and a marketplace for trading International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-REC), which supports the promotion of clean energy use and aligns with the company’s sustainability goals. Looking ahead, the company is exploring potential investments in New S-Curve businesses that will drive the future of the energy industry. These ventures including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies.
With planned power-generating capacity expansion both inside and outside WHA industrial estates, WHAUP aims to increase its cumulative signed power generation capacity to 1,185 MW, with 657 MW from renewable sources, accounting for approximately 55% of its total power generation capacity.
Under its strategic roadmap for utilities (water) and power businesses, WHAUP targets cumulative revenue and normalized share of profit at 35 billion baht over the next five years (2025-2029), maintaining an EBITDA margin of no less than 50%. The company plans to allocate a total investment budget of 29 billion baht for this five-year period to drive long-term growth.
For the 2024 performance, the Board of Directors recently had a resolution to propose a 2024 total dividend payment of 0.2525 baht per share to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders’ approval. When deducting the interim dividend payment for the first nine months of 2024 at 0.060 baht per share, the company will pay the remaining dividend at 0.1925 baht per share, with XD sign posted on 29 April 2025 and the dividend payments scheduled on 16 May 2025, respectively. This reflects the company’s strong financial status and steady cash flow from the operations.
Mr. Somkiat concluded that with the determination to do business with sustainability, WHAUP has achieved an “AAA” rating in the SET ESG Ratings 2024 for the second consecutive year. The highest rating has underscored its strong commitment to fostering business growth in utilities (water) and clean energy locally and abroad while prioritizing environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and corporate governance (Environmental, Social, and Governance: ESG). WHAUP’s business approach is anchored in sustainability, creating value for the environment and society, generating sustainable return in long term.
