Domestic power sector investment in 1Q2021 reached RMB133.5 bn (+38.9% YoY) with newly installed power capacity reaching 23.51 GW (+73.4% YoY). Power engineering investment and power grid investment in 1M-3M2021 reached RMB79.5 bn(+31.3% YoY) and RMB54.0 bn(+48.0% YoY), respectively. All power sources recorded positive growth in new installations during the first quarter of 2021. As at the end of March 2021, nationwide cumulative installed power generating capacity reached 2,229 GW, up YoY hy 16.3%. Of the total cumulative installed power capacity, thermal, hydro, nuclear, wind and solar made up 56.5%,16.7%,2.3%, 12.9% and 11.6%, respectively.
Net earnings in 1Q2021 jumped 59.9% YoY to RMB633 mn. The 1Q2021 net earnings of Dongfang Electric beat our expectation and represents approximately 30.7% of our prior full-year earnings estimate for 2021. Net profit in 1Q2021 increased by 78.8% compared to that in 1Q2019.
Consolidated gross margin in 1Q2021 went up YoY by 0.3 ppt to 25.2%, while net margin was up 1.3 ppt YoY to 7.3%. New orders in 1Q2021 went up YoY by 31.6% to RMB15.64 bn. Earnings per share during the period was RMB0.203.
We maintain the investment rating of"Buy"and raise our TP to HK$9.50. Under more upbeat assumptions, we revise up our earnings estimates. Our revised EPS estimates from 2021 to 2023 are RMB0.800, RMB0.979 and RMB1.194, respectively. Our new TP corresponds to 9.9xw 8.1x/6.6× 2021 to 2023 PER or 0.7x/0.7x/0.6× 2021 to 2023 PBR.