This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 15, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Ranhill Holdings Bhd posted a 21% jump in its second quarter net profit to RM18.67 million from RM15.43 million a year ago, thanks to higher contribution from its water segment.

Revenue climbed 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM423.99 million from RM379.47 million, as its environment — which saw a higher water consumption volume at Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd and higher contribution from Ranhill Water Technologies Sdn Bhd — and power segments made stronger contributions, the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia showed.

For the first half of financial year 2019 (1HFY19), its net profit rose 19% y-o-y to RM40.04 million from RM33.57 million, as revenue climbed 12% to RM829.04 million from RM739.76 million.

The group said it is targeting to own and operate a gross 1,000mw of power plants that deliver clean energy, and 3,000 million litres a day (MLD) of water and wastewater treatment capacity. Of the latter, it wants 400 MLD to be from the international segment by 2022.

Meanwhile, Ranhill said it is pursuing the development of new gas power plants in Asean, as well as diversifying into renewable energy (RE) such as geothermal and large-scale solar in tandem with the Malaysian government’s aspirations to increase generation capacity from RE sources. It also plans to further strengthen its operational presence in Thailand, where it currently operates 10 water and wastewater treatment as well as reclamation plants together with industrial park developers and other private enterprises.