By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter
MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) expects its full-year earnings to surpass last 12 months’s record core net income of P50.6 billion, driven by higher electricity sales, growing contributions from its power generation business, and continued expansion of its retail electricity supply (RES) operations.
“I believe the full-year profits can be ahead of last 12 months,” Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the corporate’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday.
He said the corporate is optimistic about its performance as its distribution business continues to post higher energy sales volumes, while its power generation segment is benefiting from the rollout of the P200-billion MTerra Solar Project and the continued growth of its RES business.
“All three businesses are doing quite well,” he said.
Asked whether Meralco has set a proper earnings goal for 2026, Mr. Pangilinan said management would supply more detailed guidance after the discharge of its first-half financial results.
“Let’s wait for the primary half results, possibly then we can provide guidance. But definitely ahead,” he said.
In 2025, Meralco’s core net income rose 14% to a record P50.6 billion from P45.1 billion a 12 months earlier, meeting the corporate’s profit goal.
The expansion was driven by higher earnings from its power generation business and sustained contributions from its electricity distribution operations.
Consolidated revenues increased 6% to P497.3 billion, supported by higher distribution charges, stronger power generation revenues, and increased electricity sales under its RES business.
For the primary quarter, Meralco reported a 2% increase in core net income to P11.4 billion, despite lower energy sales in its distribution business.
Meanwhile, Meralco Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho said the corporate has invested a record P28.5 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 to strengthen and modernize its electricity distribution network.
The corporate has built 4 recent substations, expanded seven existing substations, upgraded 4 sub-transmission lines, hardened facilities against storms and other calamities, and continued modernizing its distribution infrastructure, he said.
“2025 was a banner 12 months for Meralco. But more importantly, 2025 was the 12 months after we flipped the brand new chapter of our story. The road ahead is just not easy but we’re ready,” Mr. Aperocho added.
Meralco is the country’s largest private electric distribution utility, serving greater than 8.2 million customers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, including Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and parts of Laguna, Batangas, Pampanga, and Quezon.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Useful Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.