The share price of Banpu Public Company Limited (SET: BANPU) edged slightly higher at the opening bell on Monday as the analyst expected a small impact to the company from several measures made by the Australian government to control energy prices.
BANPU rose THB0.10 or 0.86% to THB11.70 in the morning session.
The Australian government would issue final directions that will require all mining firms in New South Wales, the country’s biggest coal exporting state, to reserve as much as 10% of their output for domestic supply.
This soon-to-be order came as miners in the country have been under pressure since December last year after the government put a price cap on coal prices at A$125 a tonne, which was well below the export price at about $265 a tonne.
The mines in New South Wales are mainly owned by Glencore Plc, Peabody Energy, New Hope Corp and Thailand’s leading coal producer BANPU.
Meanwhile, Indonesia plans to produce 695 million tonnes of coal this year in which the majority of its production will go to exports. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry expected to see exports of 518 million tonnes in 2023.
Mr. Suwat Sinsadok, a specialist in an energy field, expected a small impact to BANPU’s bottom line of around 1-2 billion baht per quarter due to having 60-70% domestic sales in Australia. Moreover, the business in Australia is not the main contributor to BANPU’s earnings as most operations are at loss or reporting flat growth.
The specialist maintained a positive outlook on BANPU’s 4Q22 earnings, while the overall net profit in 2022 is estimated to be over 50 billion baht. The decline in share price is limited after pricing in the downtrend of coal prices. The share price dropped 13% in January 2023.
