MERALCO sees modest sales growth

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula (The Philippine Star) Updated December 05, 2011 12:00 AM


MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it expects to post a modest 11 percent growth in sales volume this year over last year’s 10 percent, a ranking official said.


“I think this year would be about a percent more over 2010,” said Oscar Reyes, Meralco senior executive vice president and chief operating officer.


He noted that the sales growth in 2010 was a record high and may not be able to be replicated this year.


“I think this year is tracking the record year of 2010, when we increased by 10 percent over 2009 and that’s way above the normal annual increase over the last 10 years, which is in the order of about 2.2 to 2.5 percent. So we were concerned as to whether sales this year will be below last year I think it will be flat to marginally positive over the volume of last year, way above 2009,” he said.


He said there were factors in 2010 that were not present this year.


“Last year was a record. It’s very hard to replicate it, and this is not withstanding a number of factors. This year is not an election year so there is no election spending and related activity. Secondly, this year has been a relatively much cooler year than last year that is why last year was a record year. And third, we’ve had the impact of typhoons like Pedring, which inundated certain areas, especially in the Bulacan area, for an extended period of time,” he said.


He said they believe that the expected 2011 sales volume is a respectable one.


“It’s still positive, probably around one percent over last year, which is very good, in kilowatt-hour sales,” he said.


Meralco’s consolidated revenues, which consist of 97 percent electricity sales, increased two percent to P194.9 billion in the first nine months of 2011. The slight increase in consolidated electricity revenue was the result of lower generation, system loss and universal charges for most of the nine months period.


The company reported consolidated core net income, which excludes one-time exceptional charges, for the nine-month period amounted to P11.66 billion.


The volume of energy sold in 2011 was just slightly higher compared with 2010 despite cooler temperature throughout nine months and the absence of a positive one-off national elections event in 2010, partially offset by better industrial volume vis-a-vis the significantly higher base last year.


During the nine-month period, the company’s consolidated capital expenditures reached P4.72 billion.


Meralco president Manuel V. Pangilinan said “as the year comes to a close, we are prepared to announce a higher core net income guidance for the full year of 2011 of P14.5 billion.”


“While there remain major uncertainties on the global economic environment, which may detract from the prospect of a more robust economic and energy performance locally, we are determined to build further on the gains Meralco has been achieving over the past couple of years,” he said.


“Our task is to deliver on our goal of optimizing organic growth of the distribution utility and vertical diversification across the businesses of Meralco and its subsidiaries. We will continue to enhance significant value to our customers to our shareholders and to the economy as the country’s major player and partner in electricity.”