China's State Grids 2009 Profits Down

BEIJING, Jan. 15 -- The State Grid Corporation of China, the nation's biggest power transmission and distribution company, reported falling profits last year.

Last year's profits shrunken to 4.52 billion yuan (665 million U.S. dollars) from 9.75 billion yuan in 2008, Liu Zhenya, general manager of the company, said at a meeting on Thursday,

The decline was within market expectation as the power consumption had suffered decline as many industrial factories temporarily halted production amid falling orders during the global economic crisis.

That subjected the company to a loss of 16.05 billion yuan during January to September.

Investment in 2009 rose 22.5 percent year on year to 305.9 billion yuan for the expansion and upgrading of power networks.

Liu estimated the company's profits would rise to 35.05 billion yuan in 2010, given the higher electricity prices and demand recovery.

He noted the company would invest 227.4 billion yuan in 2010 on the expansion of ultra-high voltage power transmission lines, rural network and smart grids.