Meralco core income up 10% in Q1 (Sabong News)

On account of energy sales uptrend topping 6 percent, the consolidated core net income of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) improved by 10 percent to P5.624 billion in the first quarter this year versus P5.113 billion in the same period in 2021. In a briefing with reporters, Meralco Chief Finance Officer Betty Siy-Yap noted that the power firm’s reported net income had likewise accelerated robustly by 28 percent within the initial three months to P5.564 billion as compared to last year’s P4.334 billion. Executives of the company further indicated that sales in electricity had been mainly driven by the commercial sector, and supported by steady growth of the residential segment following a rebound in the industrial sector, mainly in the food and beverage as well as semiconductor industries. “Other than increase in volume which accounted for the growth, the pass-through charges actually accounted for bulk of our revenues – the increase in fuel and the depreciation of the peso from P48 in March of 2021 to P51.74 as of March 31, 2022 resulted in high purchased power costs,” Yap expounded. She added that the company’s revenues went up by 33 percent to P85.9 billion from P64.7 billion partly propelled by growth in the power generation capacity of Meralco subsidiaries, other than the increase in energy sales and increase in pass-through charges. The income contribution of various Meralco subsidiaries had been at P3.1 billion from Pacific Light gas plant in Singapore; P416 million from Meralco PowerGen’s stake in the San Buenaventura power facility in Quezon province; P52 million from the BulacanSol solar plant; while subsidiary Global Business Power Corporation logged a net loss of P517 million. Yap likewise stated that capital spending of Meralco within January to March this year reached P6.0 billion while operating expenditures hit P8.2 billion, which were mainly earmarked to reinforce the utility firm’s distribution network as well as bankroll the projects and ventures of subsidiaries. Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa emphasized that the 6.0-percent uptick in energy sales within the quarter had likewise been reinforced by the 4.0-percent growth in customer-count; 6.0-percent expansion in net system input; and, the 10 percent hike in the utility firm’s peak demand which reached 7,816 megawatts. The company chief executive, nevertheless, asserted that the surging fuel prices in the world market have been impacting on the company’s overall service provision to customers – especially so since some of their electricity suppliers have cost indexation to global fuel prices, primarily for the power plants feeding on coal and gas. “The significant rise in fuel prices, as well as the persisting supply restrictions of the Malampaya natural gas field continue to pose risks to Meralco electricity rates,” Espinosa stressed. He qualified though that the power firm is “proactive in implementing mitigating measures, including supply augmentation efforts through CSP (competitive selection process) and coordination with our suppliers, to cushion the impact to our customers while we continue to deliver stable, reliable and quality electricity service to our customers.”