posted April 25, 2016 at 11:57 pm by Alena Mae S. Flores
Power retailer Manila Electric Co.
said Monday net income rose 3 percent in the first quarter to P4.54 billion
from P4.42 billion a year ago, as electricity sales jumped 12 percent amid the
high temperature and robust consumption.
Meralco said core net income also
went up 4 percent in the January-March period to P4.6 billion from P4.41
billion a year earlier.
Core net income is adjusted to
exclude the effects of foreign exchange gains or losses, mark-to-market
adjustments and other one-time, exceptional transactions.
“The sustained upward momentum of
the Philippine economy, coupled with very warm temperatures throughout the
quarter contributed to driving electricity usage to higher trajectory providing
growth opportunities for electricity demand across all industry sectors,”
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Meralco declared a special
cash dividend of 10 percent out of the undeclared amount of the full year 2015
consolidated core net income equivalent to P1.68 per share. Record date will be
on May 25, 2016 and payment is on June 17, 2016.
Meralco said the higher core net
income in the first quarter was led by a record 12-percent increase in volume
of electricity sold although at lower distribution rate, increased contribution
of subsidiaries to non-electric revenues, higher yields from temporary
investments and updated provisions for estimated real property taxes on certain
utility plants which were resolved recently.
The company, however, reported lower
revenues at P60.2 billion in the first quarter, down 4 percent from P62.6
billion in the first quarter last year due to lower generation, transmission
and distribution charges.
Electric revenues represented 96
percent of P57.9 billion of total revenues.
Meralco said electricity demand
rose, as the Philippines continued to post resilient microeconomic indicators,
including low inflation, low interest rates, excess liquidity, growing overseas
remittances and business process outsourcing growth and higher temperature.
“The coming electoral process is
expected to further support this growth through the balance of the year,”
Pangilinan said.
Meralco’s consolidated volumes of
electricity reached 9,007 gigawatt-hours in the first quarter, with the
residential segment growing 20 percent.
Commercial sales volume rose13
percent while industrial sales increased 5 percent.
Meralco said quarter-on-quarter peak
demand grew 12 percent to 6,206 megawatts, registered on March 10, but this
record level was surpassed by the April 14 peak demand of 6,619 MW.
Pangilinan said the recent yellow
and red alert incidences on April 11, 14 and 15 and the participation of the
interruptible load program to minimize any power supply interruption, was
a “cause for concern and a visible indicator that much more needs to be done in
the power supply chain, from generation to transmission and distribution.”
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said
the company’s power generation arm Meralco PowerGen Corp. was pursuing the
development of 3,000 megawatts of power capacity that “will be built through a
mix of brownfield and greenfield development and acquisition.”
Reyes, meanwhile, said for its
distribution network, Meralco spent P1.2 billion in the first quarter for
capital expenditures, pending approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Reyes said that while waiting for
the ERC decision, the company was focused on capital expenditures which address
the need for capacity upgrades “in order to avert power interruptions to our
customers and maintain a robust distribution network.”
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