Meralco electricity sales up 2.3% in January to September

Business Mirror
by Lenie Lectura - Oct 12, 2014 

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) registered a 2.3-percent electricity sales volume in the months of January to September this year, the utility’s president said last week.

“Our sales were up by 2.3 percent, barely soft because of cooler temperature in the first four to five months of the year and brought about by the effects of Typhoon Glenda,” Meralco President and CEO Oscar Reyes said.

Electricity sales, which comprised 99 percent of Meralco’s total sales, from January to September last year stood at 25,616 gigawatt-hours (GWh), 5 percent higher than the 24,448 GWh registered in 2012.

Reyes said the “barely soft” sales during the nine months of the year could be attributed to the “slightly negative” energy sales recorded from its residential customers.

However, industrial and commercial Meralco customers pulled off an increase of 4 percent and 3percent, respectively.

At end-June this year, Meralco’s customer base stood at 5.5 million, with residential customers at 91 percent of the total.

Reyes said residential customers are now more cautious of their electricity consumption.

“The way we see it is consumers are now aware of their energy usage in addition to the availability of newer energy-efficient appliances.

Even industrial and commercial customers are also sensitive to energy efficiency measures. But, we at Meralco are advocating that,” the Meralco official said when asked what might have caused the decline in residential volume.

The utility firm has yet to release its nine-months financial performance for the year. Given the “soft” sales, this could affect Meralco’s end-September performance but Reyes is hopeful for a “slight improvement” compared to the nine months of 2013.

“We are still finalizing. But hopefully, it will be slightly better than last year,” the Meralco official said.

During the company’s first-half financial and operating results, Reyes had said that July sales have been affected by Glenda and that this would probably affect Meralco’s second-half performance.

The typhoon “will affect our second-half performance” in such a way that “it could be higher for the second half if Typhoon Glenda did not happen.”

At end-June this year, Meralco posted a 2-percent increase in net income to P9.6 billion compared to the same period last year. Core profit also rose by 8 percent to P9.9 billion from P9.2 billion in the first half last year.

Revenues, however, stood at P132.2 billion, 7 percent lower year-on-year. Still, Meralco’s first-half performance was in line with the company’s expectations.

Total electricity-sales volume at end-June this year grew by 3 percent year-on-year to 17,299 GWh, attributable largely to industrial customers, which registered the highest increase.

In 2013 Meralco’s net income stood at P17.2 billion.

The company is controlled by Hong Kong-listed conglomerate First Pacific Group via unlisted Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc.

It is also partly owned by Philippine conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. source