Utility Businesses maintain steady development Growth Businesses demonstrate strong momentum

August 23, 2026 -- The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (stock code: 0003, hereinafter referred to as “the Group”) has announced its 2026 interim results. In the first half of this year, facing international energy market volatility and economic challenges, the Group’s utility businesses demonstrated strong resilience through improved efficiency and business restructuring; meanwhile, growth businesses achieved breakthrough progress, with operating profit during the period surging by 3 times year-on-year. Overall, the Group recorded a rise of 19% in operating profit after tax for the period to HK$4.746 billion, while profit attributable to shareholders grew by 23% to HK$3.64 billion.

In the Hong Kong utility business, the supply of feedstocks for gas production remained unaffected by the external environment. Benefitting from the gradual recovery of the tourism sector, gas consumption among commercial customers, including the catering and hospitality industries, recorded a modest increase. However, high temperatures and a surge in outbound tourism among local residents weighed on residential gas sales. As of the end of June, Hong Kong gas sales reached 14.4 billion MJ (equivalent to approximately 410 million cubic metres of natural gas), down 3.5% year-on-year. The Group had adjusted its standard town gas tariff and the monthly maintenance charge, effective from 1st August 2026.

In the mainland utility businesses, amid the economic slowdown, the impact of a mild winter, and property market adjustments, the Group actively capitalised on policy tailwinds in energy transition, urban renewal and ageing pipeline network upgrades, while pressing ahead with its “Gas+” integrated energy business, driving a rise in gas sales volume. Cost pass-through arrangements were steadily implemented during the period, bringing the dollar margin for city gas to RMB0.55 per cubic metre, a further improvement of RMB0.01 per cubic metre year-on-year, driving steady profit growth in the overall gas business. The water and environmental businesses delivered sustainable growth, with water sales and sewage treatment volume reaching 800 million tonnes, up 2%, and solid waste treatment volume reaching 830,000 tonnes, an increase of 5%.

In sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”), EcoCeres, Inc. (“EcoCeres”), incubated by the Group, which remains a strategic shareholder, successfully commenced trial production at its Malaysia plant in 2025. Sales in the first half of 2026 were strong, reaching 320,000 tonnes, approximately double the level recorded a year earlier. EcoCeres successfully extended its SAF supply agreement with British Airways until the end of 2030. Furthermore, it signed an investment letter of intent with the Dongguan Municipal Government to establish a complete SAF and hydrotreated vegetable oil (“HVO”) value chain in the Greater Bay Area with annual capacity of about 450,000 tonnes. This will bring EcoCeres’s total annual capacity to 1.22 million tonnes.

In green methanol, VENEX, a joint venture under the Group, actively expanded its production capacity; the Inner Mongolia project is ramping up capacity to 300,000 tonnes following its retrofitting. Construction of new Foshan Plant will commence this year with planned capacity of 200,000 tonnes, establishing a strategic dual-base footprint spanning northern and southern China, with total planned capacity of 500,000 tonnes. In the first half of 2026, VENEX successfully completed Hong Kong’s first container terminal bunkering, completing a fully integrated supply chain from northern China to Hong Kong. VENEX also received one of the first certifications under the Country’s Global Sustainable Transport Certification (GSTC) scheme.

In the renewable energy business, new grid-connected distributed photovoltaic capacity reached 0.2 GW during the period, bringing cumulative installed capacity to 3 GW; photovoltaic electricity sales increased by 12% year-on-year to 1.32 billion kWh; and electricity trading sales volume doubled to 7.23 billion kWh. During the period, the Group successfully launched an institutional REIT and a quasi-REIT to raise approximately RMB900 million, bringing cumulative financing to RMB5.5 billion for active investment in business-related projects. The scale of Assets under Management (“AuM”) increased by 0.66 GW year-on-year to 1.5 GW, and the Group remains well-positioned across three key growth areas: integrated PV-storage, independent energy storage and direct green power supply.

In the extended businesses, Towngas Lifestyle, a Group’s subsidiary, accelerated its transformation into a “home concierge service” model by leveraging the massive market opportunities presented by the Group’s 47 million city-gas customers, and unified its kitchen appliance brand under Mia Cucina. On the mainland, trade-in sales for the smart kitchen appliance business grew 17% year-on-year to RMB200 million, while the heating engineering business grew 14% year-on-year to RMB120 million. In Hong Kong, smart kitchen revenue in the first half reached HK$870 million, up 7% year-on-year. 

The year 2026 marks the opening year of the national 15th Five-Year Plan, with green fuels included in the national strategy for the first time. In close alignment with national strategic objectives, the Group will capitalise on its competitive advantages to strategically deploy its advanced technologies and management excellence across the Greater Bay Area, as well as in Central Asia and other countries along the Belt and Road, to expand its international new energy footprint.

The Board recommended maintaining an interim dividend of HK12 cents per share.

For details of the results, please refer to the 2026 Interim Results Announcement published on the Company’s website at www.towngas.com and the HKEXnews website at www.hkexnews.hk.

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Press photos:

Photo 1:

Three Executive Directors of Towngas: Managing Director Mr Peter Wong Wai-yee (centre), Chief Financial Officer Mr Edmund Yeung Lui-ming (left), and Chief Investment Officer Mr Alan Chan Ying-lung (right), hosting the 2026 Interim Results Press Conference.

Photo 2:

Mr Peter Wong Wai-yee (centre), Towngas Managing Director, notes that the Group’s growth businesses delivered outstanding performance, with particularly strong overall sales growth in the SAF business.

Media Enquiries

For media enquiries, please contact our Corporate Affairs Department.

Corporate Affairs Department

The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited

21/F, 363 Java Road North Point, Hong Kong

WhatsApp: (852) 6702 6449

Email: [email protected]

Source: https://news.marketersmedia.com/utility-businesses-maintain-steady-development-growth-businesses-demonstrate-strong-momentum/89201343

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