Fornet Energy: Net profit surpasses 1 billion yuan for the first time, evolving from a city gas giant to a leader in green hydrogen-based energy

In 2025, it will be a year of profound reshaping of the global energy landscape. Against the complex backdrop of increasing volatility in international energy markets, AI computing power fueling a hunger for electricity, and a global energy transition entering deep waters, an energy company from Guangdong has delivered a report filled with substantial value.

On March 24, Fuan Energy (002911.SZ) released its annual report for 2025, showing that the company has continued its steady growth trend since going public, with total operating revenue reaching 33.595 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.35%. The net profit attributable to the parent company has surpassed 1 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 1.030 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.74%.

In an era where traditional energy and emerging sectors intertwine, Fuan Energy is strategically positioning itself to become an excellent international energy service provider with its “Energy + Technology + X” strategy.

Performance shows steady progress, with net profit hitting a new high

In 2025, the macro environment is complex and changeable, and the domestic energy industry is accelerating its reconstruction under the “dual carbon” goals. Fuan Energy’s performance curve shows steady progress and remarkable resilience.

The annual report indicates that Fuan Energy achieved total operating revenue of 33.595 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 6.35%. Since going public, the company’s performance has maintained stable growth, with operating revenue increasing from 4.292 billion yuan in 2017 to 33.595 billion yuan in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 29.33%.

Data Source: Tonghuashun iFIND

Regarding net profit attributable to the parent company, the company surpassed 1.030 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.74%, setting a new high since its listing. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit attributable to the parent company was 979 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.17%. This reflects the company’s strong profitability and resilient operational capacity.

Data Source: Tonghuashun iFIND

Notably, during the reporting period, Fuan Energy’s operating net cash flow reached 1.898 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.18%, with a net cash ratio (operating cash flow/net profit attributable to the parent) exceeding 180%, particularly outstanding in the utility sector dominated by heavy asset energy companies. The robust cash flow provides strong “blood-making” capability for Fuan Energy’s business structure optimization and transformation.

The report also indicates that Fuan Energy’s total assets steadily increased to 20.049 billion yuan, growing by 3.31% compared to the beginning of the period, while net assets reached 9.069 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.79%. In 2025, the basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share were 0.72 yuan/share and 0.71 yuan/share, respectively, while the net assets per share attributable to ordinary shareholders were 6.99 yuan/share, with a weighted return on net assets of 19%, an increase of 1.81% year-on-year.

Data Source: Tonghuashun iFIND

In the secondary market, according to Wind data as of the close on March 24, Fuan Energy’s total market capitalization was 18.801 billion yuan, ranking among the top five in the A-share environmental protection and public utility Wind gas sector. Since 2025, the company’s market value has increased by nearly 20%. In terms of stock price, based on the opening price of 11.78 yuan/share on the first trading day of 2025, the increase reached 22.92% as of the close on March 24, demonstrating strong market performance and growth potential.

Steady shareholder returns reflect another aspect of the company’s value. Since its listing in 2017, the company has accumulated cash dividends of 3.763 billion yuan, which is 4.82 times the total amount of raised funds, with an average annual cash dividend accounting for over 65% of net profit attributable to the parent company, providing good returns to shareholders. The total cash dividend for the 2025 fiscal year reached 675 million yuan, accounting for 65.53% of net profit attributable to the parent company. Among them, the interim dividend (for the first three quarters) distributed a cash dividend of 2.5 yuan for every 10 shares, totaling 325 million yuan; the annual profit distribution distributed a cash dividend of 2.7 yuan for every 10 shares, totaling 351 million yuan.

Data Source: Tonghuashun iFIND

In addition, the company also disclosed a “Shareholder Return Plan for the Next Three Years,” committing to an annual cash dividend of no less than 65% of net profit attributable to the parent company, and under certain conditions, can conduct two profit distributions each year. In the current context of increasing volatility in the capital markets, this high certainty return is undoubtedly the greatest sincerity towards value investors.

Seizing the pulse of the green low-carbon transition era

In the past year, Fuan Energy has been developing under the strategic direction of “Energy + Technology + X,” while deeply cultivating its urban gas business, continuously advancing its energy transition strategy, forming five major business sectors: urban gas, new energy, technology, energy chemicals and services, and extended services. Each sector’s positioning and collaborative path have been further clarified, promoting integrated development and quality enhancement across sectors.

Currently, as geopolitical conflicts intensify, the risk of shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz has once again put the global LNG supply chain on high alert. The fires in the Middle East have caused prices for gas and electricity in Europe and the U.S. to spike, making energy self-sufficiency and supply security the focus of attention for various countries.

As a regional gas leader with franchise rights for pipeline gas in 13 regions, Fuan Energy’s urban gas business sector achieved revenue of 13.205 billion yuan, accounting for 39.31% of the company’s total revenue, with a gross profit margin of 12.18%, an increase of 2.93 percentage points year-on-year. Relying on the barriers of franchise rights and advantages of regional deep cultivation, the profitability resilience of the urban gas business continues to strengthen, providing solid support for overall performance. In 2025, the total supply of natural gas reached 4.756 billion cubic meters, with gas consumption increasing over 200% since its listing, ensuring stable energy supply for both residential and industrial uses, while also safeguarding regional energy security amid severe fluctuations in international gas prices.

In the new energy business sector, the company is actively laying out hydrogen energy, photovoltaics, energy storage, and green methanol as clean energy, embracing green transformation. The green methanol project has become an important engine for strategic transformation. Fuan Energy plans to invest 10 billion yuan to establish green methanol production bases nationwide, creating a supply pool for green fuels and chemicals with a total capacity of 1 million tons per year. During the reporting period, subsidiary Fuli Kesi Green Energy Co., Ltd. jointly established VENEX with Hong Kong and China Gas, and its subsidiary acquired 100% equity of Inner Mongolia Yigao Company. The base currently has a green methanol production capacity of 50,000 tons and has achieved bulk sales, with plans to continue investing to increase production capacity to 300,000 tons. Additionally, the company intends to invest in the construction of a 200,000 tons/year green methanol project in Foshan Sanshui, and as of now, has completed the industrial land transfer, signed the land transfer contract, and paid the transfer fee, with the construction period expected to take two years.

Green methanol, known as “liquid sunshine,” can be used directly as marine fuel and vehicle fuel, and is also an efficient carrier of hydrogen energy. In the 14th Five-Year Plan, green methanol is assigned an important mission as a key area of clean energy and low-carbon chemicals. Currently, due to the energy crisis, Europe and the U.S. are accelerating energy independence, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has increasingly stringent requirements on ship carbon emissions, creating a huge demand gap for green methanol. Fuan Energy’s layout in green methanol is not only a forward-looking commercial positioning but also an accurate grasp of the global trend towards alternative green fuels.

In terms of energy chemical services, Fuan Energy has built a dual-driven energy service network of domestic and international. In the face of increased volatility in the international energy market and rising uncertainties in the supply chain, the company provides multi-layered, personalized energy chemical services to state-owned enterprises, terminal gas stations, and other clients. Domestically, leveraging the 918,300 cubic meters petrochemical storage base on Xiaohudao in Nansha, Guangzhou, and the largest professional petrochemical terminal at the Pearl River estuary, the company’s product categories cover natural gas, refined oil, methanol, biodiesel, and other segmented varieties. During the reporting period, the sales volume of equivalent oil and chemicals reached 2.4141 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 25.82%.

On the international front, the company has established a trading platform in Singapore, actively expanding international LNG trade based on the Asia-Pacific market, further enhancing its global resource allocation capability, and improving its ability to hedge risks across market cycles. This has injected resilient momentum into the company’s medium- to long-term development at a time when energy security is increasingly becoming a strategic focus for various countries.

Hardcore technology forges the “Chinese chip” in energy equipment

In the technology research and development and equipment manufacturing sector, Fuan Energy’s layout is even more hardcore. Fuan Energy focuses on industry innovation-driven development, continuously deepening its research and development efforts, and vigorously building an innovative platform that empowers industrial upgrading, steadily solidifying its core competitiveness. From 2023 to 2025, research and development expenses were 337 million yuan, 315 million yuan, and 342 million yuan, respectively, totaling 994 million yuan over three years.

In 2025, the electricity crisis brought on by the explosion of AI computing power has become a hot topic in the tech industry. The demand from data centers for 24/7 uninterrupted, high-reliability, low-carbon emission power has brought the SOFC technology into the spotlight. The American company Bloom Energy has secured billions of dollars in data center orders with SOFC technology, sparking global market discussions.

SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) is an efficient power generation device that converts the chemical energy of fuels (such as natural gas) directly into electricity through an electrochemical reaction without combustion. The efficiency of SOFC technology can exceed 60%, and the highest current record for combined heat and power efficiency exceeds 90%. It can also directly utilize existing natural gas pipelines without relying on the power grid.

If green methanol addresses the future of fuels, then SOFC represents a significant strategic move for Fuan Energy in the energy terminal application field.

The annual report reveals that Fuan Energy has progressed from research and development to demonstration in the field of SOFC. The company has completed the assembly of the SOFC system prototype and achieved continuous operation, currently conducting optimization and improvement iterations; it is also conducting a 300kW SOFC system project demonstration application at the Nanzhuang natural gas high-pressure station. This means that Fuan Energy not only masters this core technology known as the “heart of AI computing power” but is also beginning to explore its commercialization path, laying a solid foundation for future participation in energy supply for data centers and distributed energy markets.

In addition to SOFC, Fuan Energy is also conducting cutting-edge technology research in hydrogen energy equipment manufacturing, pipeline inspection, furnace thermal engineering equipment manufacturing and energy conservation and emission reduction, as well as ultrasonic gas meters, promoting the transformation of research results. In July 2025, the household ultrasonic gas meter independently developed by Foshan Weisi Smart Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the company, made its global debut at the 29th World Gas Conference, achieving 100% localization and breaking the unfavorable situation of domestic ultrasonic gas meters being “chip deficient” and heavily reliant on imports.

Standing at the threshold of the 14th Five-Year Plan and looking back, in the context of the restructuring of the global energy order and the AI technology revolution creating new demands, Fuan Energy is entering the hydrogen-based energy new blue ocean with green methanol, positioning itself in the energy infrastructure of the AI era with SOFC, and achieving domestic substitution of equipment through core technology. This combination of “stability” and “progress” is a vivid practice of new productive forces at the enterprise level and a solid footprint of Fuan Energy’s commitment to becoming an excellent international energy service provider. This is not only a vision but also a vivid portrayal of creating new opportunities in transformation and expanding new paths through innovation.