December 8, 2013 6:44 pm
HONG KONG: The Manuel Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has allocated as much as P15.6 billion for capital spending next year.
Meralco President Oscar Reyes said in an interview with reporters that the company will extensively spend a higher amount of capex next year amid higher electricity demand.
It was reported few days ago that Meralco’s 2014 capex would also be higher, although he initially said that it could be higher than P13 billion.
But as of the latest, Reyes specified that the company’s capex will be P15.6 billion, higher than last year’s P10.8 billion, and 2012’s P10.3 billion.
“[We are gearing up for] very heavy investments,” Reyes said, adding that the investments would involve efforts to grow Meralco’s number of accounts and end-user volume.
Meralco is also anticipating potential big customers such as those that are building major developments in the Pagcor Entertainment City in Pasay, that would need bigger and more power supply.
The group also mentioned previously its plan to grow its power generation portfolio.
During the first nine months of the year, Meralco registered a thin improvement on its core net profit on the back of the volume of energy sold.
The listed firm reported that its unaudited consolidated core net income, which excludes one-time, exceptional charges for the nine months ended September 30, 2013, amounted to P13.6 billion, up 5 percent year-on-year.
Reyes told reporters during the same briefing that for full year 2013, Meralco is on track to hitting its P17-billion target profit, which will be higher than the P16.3 billion in 2012. source
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