By
Lenie Lectura - June 28, 2018
THE Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco) expects a 6.5-percent growth in energy sales in the first half of the
year, higher than the 4.5 percent it posted in the same period a year ago.
“We will probably
end-June with roughly around 6.5 percent. Demand was strong in May, but it went
down in June. This year is higher because to the country’s credit, industrial
and commercial activities have been strong. Maybe it’s the growth of the
economy,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said.
From January to May
this year, Reyes said energy sales grew by 7.5 percent.
However, electricity
sales in June “is trending a little softer because rains have started and
it’s been cool during the last three months.”
Reyes said June sales
are trending below 3 percent.
Meralco earlier
reported that energy sales for the first quarter of the year stood at 10,145
gigawatt-hours, up 8.9 percent from 9,317 GWh in the same period a year
ago. The higher temperature, which averaged 27.1 degrees Celsius, also
drove the increase in volume during the period.
It said unusually
strong sales from January to March this year pushed Meralco’s net income higher
by 10 percent to P5.3 billion, while core net income rose 7 percent to P4.92
billion. Revenues also went up by 6 percent to P70.09 billion.
Reyes said sales volume
for the second quarter, albeit lower than the first quarter, would still be
driven by increased consumption from existing customers and new customers. At
end-March, Meralco’s customer count increased to 6.4 million accounts. He said
the subscriber base is growing at a rate of 4 percent to 4.5 percent every
year.
Meralco reiterated it
remains committed, and has always been ready to invest in capital expenditures
for a highly resilient, customer-responsive, digitally enabled distribution
business, and fuel-efficient, reliable and environment-friendly power
generation plants.
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