Vietnam power plant says 2007 profit falls
HANOI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Pha Lai Thermal Power Co PPC.HM, Vietnam's fourth-largest listed firm, said on Wednesday its net profit dropped 15.5 percent last year to 827.8 billion dong ($51.4 million) as generator maintenance cut into revenues.
Its fourth quarter gross profit dropped 80.4 percent from the third quarter to nearly 36 billion dong partly because of regular maintenance, Pha Lai told the exchange in a statement.
Pha Lai shut its generators, resulting in lower electricity sales and a quarterly profit drop of 15 billion dong, the statement said.
Last October, the plant said its third quarter profit was eroded by rain which led to less power consumption coupled with generator maintenance.
Pha Lai also faced a 232 billion dong loss on a loan worth 38.06 billion yen at the end of last year, the statement said without elaboration.
Shares in Pha Lai closed up 4.55 percent at 57,500 dong ($3.6) on Wednesday, valuing the firm at $1.2 billion, the fourth largest of the 144 firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange .VNI.
The VN Index rose 3.9 percent to 843.10 points after the government announced plans to boost Vietnam's young stock markets. [nHAN209977]. ($1=16,095 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Battye)
