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WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2011 20:11 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA / REPORTER
LISTED AboitizPower Corp. is looking for funding amounting to P50 billion for its planned 600-megawatt (MW) Subic and 150-MW Davao coal-fired power plants, Erramon Aboitiz, president and chief executive, said on Wednesday.
The AboitizPower official, however, said the total amount to be raised will depend on whether they will proceed with the Subic project. “If we do, we’re talking about financing in the neighborhood of P50 billion for the two plants [in Subic and Davao],” he added. The Subic plant development will be undertaken by Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. while Therma South will handle the construction of the Davao facility.
Aboitiz said they have no plans to raise any funds on the parent level.
The company has been in talks with several banks for these projects, which they hope will be available when they make their final decision.
For the Davao project, Aboitiz said they are still waiting for the endorsement of the Davao City Council, which they hope to secure within the month.
Aboitiz added that they have also applied for the environmental compliance certificate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the projects.
“Internally, our target is to begin construction by July or once the needed permits and endorsements have been secured,” Aboitiz said.
He added that they target to begin construction by the third quarter of the year.
Aboitiz noted that two-thirds of the P50-billion funding will be allotted to the Subic power plant. Final go-signal will largely depend on an ongoing study on the transmission lines that needed to be put in place in the area.
In the first quarter, AboitizPower parent Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) reported a net income of P4.6 billion, which was lower 26-percent lower than the same period last year.
Of the contribution from AEV’s subsidiaries, the parent firm said the power group provided 85 percent or P3.9 billion, a 31-percent drop from the previous year’s level.
“Lower net generation, softening spot market prices and increase in fuel costs are some of the factors that led to the drop in the power generation business, which offset the improvement in the earnings contribution of the distribution business,” AEV said.
AboitizPower posted earnings of P5.1 billion for the first three months compared with the P7.4 billion recorded in the same quarter last year, down by 31 percent. The earnings translate to an earning per share of P0.69 per share from P1.01 per share in the same period last year.
The softening spot market prices in the first quarter of the year resulted in lower merchant sales by the generation group. AboitizPower plants in Mindanao saw lower dispatch rates during the period given the improved power supply situation in the first three months of the year.
These, according to the Aboitiz, coupled with the effect on demand by the cooler climate in the first quarter, accounted for the 10-percent drop in AboitizPower’s attributable electricity sales to 2,168 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 2,418 GWh during the same period last year.
Electricity sales in the distribution utilities grew by 6 percent to almost 890 GWh during the quarter. Industrial and commercial power sales led the increase with a 7-percent growth, while residential sales grew by only 1 percent.
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