Meralco sees 7% growth in 2012 sales

Business Mirror

Published on Sunday, 16 December 2012 17:46

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla / Reporter

THE growth in power demand from industrial and commercial customers is expected to propel Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) sales volumes to jump by 7 percent this year.

Oscar S. Reyes, Meralco president and chief executive, said in an interview that sales volume could be trending around 7-percent increase compared with last year’s a little over 1-percent hike.

Reyes said the projected growth in sales volume is attributable to the healthy pick-up of demand from Meralco’s industrial customers. “The semiconductor business, construction-related such as steel and petrochemical industries, and food and beverage, among others, have picked up this year and could result in Meralco’s overall sales volumes.

On the commercial side, Reyes said demand has been “healthy,” thanks to the construction of new malls and entertainment centers.

Reyes also said they have seen decent growth from the residential sector , which could be the result of the healthy inflow of OFW remittances.

While sales volume growth has already reached 7.6 percent in the first nine months of the year, Reyes said they still see growth to hover around 7 percent for the full year.

He noted that December sales volume is expected to be lower compared with the previous months, as some industries tend to take a few days off and/or shut down. “December is often the lowest [in sales volume] in the last three months because on the impact on the industrial [sector],” he added.

For his outlook next year, Reyes said, granted that all remains same then the robust economic growth could still happen. At the same time, next year’s mid-term elections are expected to help perk up demand, particularly in days closer to the day people cast their votes.

Reyes declined to predict whether they could duplicate this year’s projected growth in sales volume. “It’s tough to make a call, but I think we’re probably looking at maybe a 4-percent to 5-percent growth next year.”

Also if the growth trajectory has really moved up and demand remains robust, Reyes said they could fast track the building of new power-generating facilities to ensure energy supply and security.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, Meralco chairman, earlier revised the power distributor’s core income guidance to grow to P16 billion.

Pangilinan said they are upgrading the core guidance to P16 billion for the entire year, which is attributed to the continuing strong sales in October, which is trending slightly north of 7 percent. For the first nine months, Betty C. Siy-Yap, Meralco chief finance officer, said core income grew by 7.9 percent to P12.892 billion from P11.949 billion in the same period last year.

“Meralco’s reported net income also grew by 37.1 percent to P13.646 billion in the first nine months from P9.951 billion during the same period last year. The growth in income was due to the company’s strong sales volume and growth in customer count during the first nine months,” Siy-Yap said.    source