AboitizPower books P17.6 B profit in 2015

By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 10, 2016 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/03/10/1561228/aboitizpower-books-p17.6-b-profit-2015

MANILA, Philippines – AboitizPower Corp., the power generation arm of the Aboitiz Group, booked five percent higher profits last year as improved power generation and distribution business results offset foreign exchange losses.

AboitizPower disclosed yesterday it grew its full-year 2015 income five percent to P17.6 billion  from P16.7 billion in 2014.

It said it registered a net non-recurring loss of P762 million, versus the previous year’s loss of P136 million, due to the revaluation of consolidated dollar-denominated assets and liabilities resulting from the movements in the peso-dollar exchange rate.

Adjusting for this one-off, the company’s core net income amounted to P18.4 billion, up nine percent from P16.8 billion.

The power generation business accounted for 79 percent of earnings contribution from AboitizPower’s business segment, translating to an income share of P13.9 billion for 2015, up three percent year-on-year.

“The growth was attributable to the higher sales volume from the coal and large hydro groups that offset the decrease in revenues from the geothermal group due to steam decline,” the firm said.

 “Moreover, the impact of Magat, Binga and Therma Marine plants’ income tax holidays expiration were offset by the large hydro group’s lower financing cost and the geothermal group’s and oil business unit’s lower operating expenses,” it added.

Meanwhile, the power distribution group accounted for 21 percent of total earnings contribution equivalent to P3.8 billion, a 19-percent increase.

“The overall improved performance of the group is mainly from higher attributable electricity sales which increased by six percent, from 4,480 gwh to 4,759 gwh as energy sales grew across all customer segments as well as the full year contributions from LimA Enerzone, which was acquired last year,” the company said.

The company said it remains on track with its project pipeline to hit 4,000 megawatts (MW) in national capacity by 2020.

Last year, the firm completed the 14-MW Sabangan run-of-river hydroelectric and 260-MW (net) Davao Coal, ending the year with a net attributable sellable capacity of 2,532 MW.