Meralco nets P3.4b as sales surge 10%

Friday, 27 April, 2012 Written by Alena Mae S. Flores


Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest power distributor, announced Thursday net income in the first quarter climbed 58.2 percent to P3.37 billion from P2.13 billion a year ago, on the back of a 10-percent increase in electricity sales.

The distributor said core net income in the January-March period also rose 5.1 percent to P3.418 billion from P3.3 billion a year ago.

Meralco said the better-than-expected economic environment, strong inflow of remittances from Filipinos overseas, revenue inflows generated by business process outsourcing facilities, benign inflation and slightly warmer temperature boosted energy sales this year.

Consolidated revenues were up 16 percent to P65.6 billion, led by the 10-percent increase in energy sales volume and the 10-percent increment in pass-through generation and system loss  charges.

“The 10-percent increase in energy sales realized in this period, although not unprecedented, was better than expected...Meralco no longer passively waits for a customer to apply for a connection.  As we continue to outperform, we are looking further by bringing our expertise to other franchise areas and entering the power generation space,” said Meralco president and chief executive Manuel  Pangilinan.

“While sales in the coming quarters may be somewhat uncertain, especially with the onset  of the rainy season, we are currently preparing our facilities to ensure minimal downtime,” Pangilinan said.

Meralco also announced the signing of a mandate letter with a consortium of three banks including BDO Unibank, First Metro Investment Corp. and Philippine National Bank for a 15-year project financing involving P48 billion for the 600-megawatt Subic coal project.

Pangilinan said the company was committed to its profit guidance earlier given in the year of about P14.5 billion.   “But certainly [we] aim at a higher trajectory in the long-term,” he said.

Meralco said the number of billed customers increased by 40,000 to 5.07 million as of March 2012.

Another 37,000 accounts were added in the residential sector.

(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/April/27)  source