Singapore's Sembcorp Industries sees strong first half on higher electricity prices

July 19 (Reuters) - Singapore's Sembcorp Industries Ltd on Tuesday forecast a "materially higher" first-half period than a year ago, driven by its conventional energy segment on the back of higher electricity prices in the city-state and India.

Last year, Sembcorp had logged first-half statutory net profit of S$46 million ($32.92 million), with the conventional energy segment recording S$185 million statutory net profit. (https://bit.ly/3Pp7uu8)

The energy and urban solutions provider also clarified that its unit in Myanmar - Sembcorp Myingyan Power Co - has not received any order to halt repayment of its foreign debt, citing a local media report that talked of the directive by the Central Bank of Myanmar to domestic borrowers. (https://bit.ly/3AXUmaM)

Sembcorp Myingyan Power Co operates a 225 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in northern Myanmar. The South Asian country last year experienced a military coup that ended a decade of tentative democracy and triggered widespread protests.

The power plant, which "continues to be in operation", has a net book value of $97 million and outstanding loans of $209 million as at June-end, Sembcorp added on Tuesday. (https://bit.ly/3RJtPUz)

($1 = 1.3975 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)