PANGILINAN-LED MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) reported a 14% increase in its consolidated core net income to P40.02 billion for the primary nine months, driven by revenue growth and stronger results from its distribution utility segment despite flat energy sales.
“Based on the expansion of our power generation and the regular performance of our core distribution previously nine months, we stay positive that we are going to achieve our full-year core profit guidance of P50 billion,” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in an announcement on Monday.
The distribution utility business accounted for P21.94 billion of the corporate’s total core income for the period, while power generation contributed P14.71 billion and the retail electricity supplier and repair subsidiaries added P3.37 billion.
Consolidated revenues rose 4.6% to P371.77 billion for the January-to-September period from P355.42 billion a yr earlier, mainly driven by electricity sales.
“We’re counting on the contribution of power generation which has helped us cover any distribution utilities shortfall. Although overall we’re also contributions from our subsidiaries,” Meralco Senior Vice-President and Chief Finance Officer Betty C. Siy-Yap said in the course of the company’s financial and operational briefing on Monday.
Operating costs and expenses increased 4.16% to P332.26 billion from P318.99 billion last yr.
Meralco’s system-wide power sales volume reached 50,880 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the primary nine months, up 0.5% from 50,641 GWh a yr ago.
The distribution utility segment accounted for 41,358 GWh, power generation arm Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN) contributed 20,226 GWh, and the retail electricity business 5,524 GWh.
“We were hoping for a normalization of weather patterns but we see worsening weather patterns. So that truly and the flooding brought by the rains impeded the mobility of each residential and industrial customers,” Meralco Senior Vice-President and Chief Revenue Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz said.
Meralco has revised downward its energy sales growth forecast to 0.4%-0.8% by yearend from an earlier projection of 1-2%.
“We in some way modified our forecast to 0.4 or 0.8% by the top of the yr,” Mr. Geluz said.
On the local bourse on Monday, Meralco shares slipped by P4 or 0.69% to shut at P575 apiece.
Meralco’s majority owner, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
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