EDC reports P3.8-B first-half net income

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: July 25, 2013 
The reported net income of publicly-listed Energy Development Corporation (EDC) during the first half was down to P3.8 billion, or 33 percent lower from last year’s P5.7 billion.
Prior to factoring in foreign exchange losses of P0.8 billion though, the company’s recurring net income was at P4.2 billion, which manifests a slight climb of 8.0 percent from P3.9 billion the previous year.
In a press statement, the company noted that its profitability for the period had been driven mainly “by the performance of subsidiary Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI),” the owner and operator of the 112.5MW Tongonan and 192.5MW Palinpinon geothermal power facilities.
The Lopez firm indicated that there had been substantial reduction in revenues logged from the operations of its hydro power plants – one that the company earlier attributed to lower cost procurement of ancillary services by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
“Despite the substantial reduction in the revenues of our hydro investment, GCGI’s robust financial and operating results brought EDC’s margins in line with our expectations,” company president Richard B. Tantoco has noted.
Amid these hurdles though, the company chief executive intimated that “the investments to modernize and rehabilitate our acquisitions are paying off.”
For this year’s initial six months, the company further acknowledged that its revenues “dipped by 5.0% to P13.4 billion from P14.1 billion.”
It reiterated that such had been traced to “increased competition for ancillary services market”, thus, lowering revenue take from its FG Hydro operations, or its Pantabangan-Masiway assets. The company has been continuously growing its power generation portfolio – both in the domestic and overseas markets.
EDC’s main foray this year is its 87-megawatt Burgos wind power project in Ilocos Norte, which was just recently issued “notice-to-proceed” to its construction phase.
For its geothermal ventures, the focus of expansions will be in the Philippines and its prospective resource conquests in the Latin American jurisdictions of Peru and Chile.   source