GLONGHUI, August 30 | According to a report published by Credit Suisse, Kunlun Energy's performance in the first half of the year exceeded expectations, and net profit increased 5% year-on-year to 3.2 billion yuan. The profit before interest and tax from natural gas sales increased by 22% year-on-year during the period, which is a surprise. The bank's weighted average profit margin per unit was the same as in the same period last year, at 0.495 yuan per cubic meter, which is also more resilient than expected, considering the company's efforts to pass on natural gas costs to upstream suppliers in the first half of the year. The market is expected to be satisfied with the Group's strong performance in the first half of the year and push its stock price to outperform its peers. The Group maintains its target of 10% year-on-year increase in gas sales volume in FY2023, which also shows that management is confident in the company's prospects for the second half of the year. The bank raised the group's earnings per share estimate from 2023 to 25 by 5% to 6%, and lowered the target price from HK$9.7 to HK$8.5 to maintain its “outperform the market” rating.