Meralco said likely to post ‘flat’ profit in first semester

Business Mirror
13 Jul 2014 Written by Lenie Lectura

UTILITY firm Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may have posted a “flat” profit from January to June this year compared with that of last year, an industry source said over the weekend. The source said frequent power outages were blamed for the utility firm’s unchanged financial performance during the period.

When sought for comment, Meralco CFO Betty Sy-Yap said the utility firm is currently finalizing the numbers. Were closing our books now.

In the first half of 2013, Meralco posted a P9.2-billion core net income, 2-percent higher than in the same period in 2012. However, the power distributor’s reported net income declined by 3 percent to P9.4 billion for the first six months last year as against the same period a year ago, mainly due to a one-time gain of P770 million from the sale of Rockwell Land shares in 2013. Revenues, meanwhile, stood at P141.7 billion at end-June 2013. In the first quarter of the year, Meralco posted a flat net income of P4.08 billion as revenues dipped during the period because of lower energy consumption. Core net income, which excludes one-time charges, stood at P4.08 billion from P4.02 in the first three months of 2013.

Revenues, meanwhile, declined by 15 percent to P54.04 billion from P64.15 billion. Of this amount, electricity revenues decreased by 15.8 percent to P54.04 billion from P64.15 billion. The lower sales were blamed on low consumption by Meralco customers. Company President Oscar Reyes had said the cooler temperature during the first three months of the year and a slight uptick in inflation weighed heavily on electricity consumption. “In terms of providing a full-year forecast, we would have to see what happens in the second quarter. But the soft electricity consumption pattern in the first quarter continuous to be reflected in April,” Reyes said. source

Lenie Lectura