By Danessa O. Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated November 11, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Higher sales
from its major power projects boosted net earnings of Alsons Consolidated
Resources Inc., the publicly-listed holding company of the Alcantara Group, by
a fifth in the first nine months of 2015.
In a statement, Alsons said it recorded
a 19 percent rise in consolidated net income to P685 million in the
January-September period from P574 million in the same period last year.
“Despite the lower price indices
used in computing tariffs for the period, net income still increased due to the
higher dispatch of electricity sold by its three diesel-fired power plants,”
the company said.
The three plants consist of the
103-megawatt (MW) Mapalad Power in Iligan City, the 100-MW Western Mindanao
Power in Zamboanga City and the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power in Alabel,
Sarangani.
The plants sold 1.065 million
megawatt hours (mwh) of electricity, an increase of 17 percent from the 910,000
mwh sold in the same period last year.
“All three Alsons diesel plants have
significantly contributed to alleviating the power shortage in Mindanao,” Alson
said.
Alsons, however, said its net income
attributable to the parent recorded for the period was slightly lower at P275
million against P307 million in the same period last year due to foreign
exchange losses.
“The decline came from a revaluation
of the dollar-denominated debt registered at parent level coming from the
recent weakening of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar,” it said.
Sans the non-recurring loss, parent
income would have increased 54 percent to P474 million.
In a meeting last Friday, the
company’s board approved the creation of a new subsidiary to act as the holding
company that will house all of the coal-fired power plant assets and projects.
Alsons is currently developing
coal-fired power facilities, namely the 105 MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI)
plant in Zamboanga City and the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) plant in
Maasim, Sarangani – to help provide a stable source of baseload power for
Mindanao and ensure long-term power security for the island.
For the SEC plant, the first 105-MW
section is targeted to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of
2016. Meanwhile, the SEC plant is expected to be operating at its full 210 MW
capacity in 2018.
On the other hand, the SRPI power
facility in Zamboanga City is expected to begin construction in 2016 and is
slated to operate by 2019.
The group is also entering the
renewable energy space with the development of a 15 MW run of river
hydroelectric plant along the Siguil River in Maasim, Sarangani, which will
begin construction in 2016.
By 2019, Alsons’ affiliated power
facilities are expected to have a total generating capacity of 588 MW, which
will service 25 percent of Mindanao’s peak power requirements.
Apart from the power business, the Alcantara
Group is also engaged in aquaculture and agribusiness, property development and
services.
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