Monday, August 15, 2011

Alsons Consolidated hikes net income to P676M in 1st half

By: Amy R. RemoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—The Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. posted a 25-percent hike in its consolidated net income to P676 million in the first half of the year from P540 million in the same period in 2010.
In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alsons Consolidated also reported that income attributable to equity holders of the parent company surged by 92 percent to P289 million in the first semester from the previous year’s P151 million.
This was despite the 1.2-percent decline in the energy fees from the company’s energy and power business to P1.017 billion from P1.029 billion in 2010. The decline, which was due to lower volume of energy dispatched and foreign exchange rates in the first six months of the year, was partly cushioned by the higher price index, according to Alsons Consolidated.
Also, electricity consumption of locators at the Lima Technology Center went up during the first semester, leading to the 20 percent improvement in the company’s water sales and other service income, which stood at P317 million, up from the previous year’s P263 million. Rental and other income likewise rose to P11 million from P8 million year on year.
As of the end of June, Alsons Consolidated and its subsidiaries posted total assets worth P13.208 billion while total liabilities amounted to P2.729 billion.
At present, Alsons Consolidated Resources targets to raise some $175 million (roughly P7.5 billion) to help fund two of its coal-fired power generation projects in Sarangani and Zamboanga.
Through its subsidiary Conal Holdings Corp., ACR will be building two coal-fired power plants in Sarangani and Zamboanga to provide 300 megawatts in additional baseload capacity to these areas in four to five years.
Investments for the two coal-fired facilities may reach up to $700 million, of which $450 million would be the estimated cost for the Sarangani facility. Antonio Miguel B. Alcantara, financial analyst for Alsons, did not disclose investment figures for the Zamboanga coal plant but said they might need to invest $2 million to $2.5 million to produce a megawatt of coal power. This means that for the 100-MW Zamboanga plant, Conal Holdings may have to spend as much as $250 million.
The first unit (100 MW) of the planned coal power plant in Sarangani is expected to be completed by September 2013, while the second unit may be commissioned within the fourth quarter of 2014. For the first 100-MW unit, about 70 MW will be provided for Socoteco II, while the remaining 30 MW will be sold to the grid.
The 100-MW coal-fired power plant (ZAM 100) in Zamboanga City is expected to be completed within the fourth quarter of 2014. Once the ZAM 100 begins commercial operations, it can serve the electricity requirements of the other areas in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

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