Manila Times
MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) said it is likely to surpass its growth projections this year amid the continued increase in demand for electricity in its franchise area. Betty Siy-Yap, Meralco chief finance officer, said the utility’s energy sales have improved from 2009 levels.
”The volumes are much higher on an accumulative basis. Today it is greater than last year in terms of energy sold. So that is the main driver,” she said.
Meralco earlier said sales would grow by 4 percent this year after a 1.7 percent expansion in 2009.
The higher projected growth was brought about by the recovery of the utility’s industrial customers, whose demand slumped in 2008 as export markets abroad contracted. The upward adjustment this year also is driven by an increase in the utility’s residential and commercial sales.
As of August, Meralco’s sales increased by 11.7 percent from last year’s levels.
The figure, however, is expected to taper off in the coming months because of the low demand typically seen during the holiday season.
Despite this slowdown, Meralco still expects its sales to fall above the 4 percent mark and its core net income to surpass the P11 billion target this year especially with the rate increase implemented at the start of the year, Siy-Yap said.
”It really depends. Actually at this time, the energy sales will go down because you have a cooler weather and as the hydro [power plants] come in. But we do expect that we will surpass it by a little bit,” she said, referring to sales.
Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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